Birthstone Index

Birthstones are gemstones that are associated with each month. They may be precious stones, such as diamonds, or semi-precious, such as Lapiz Lazuli. In each case they are considered lucky for their particular months and for those who believe in such things their healing powers are heightened during their months. So if you're born in April, your birthstone is the Diamond and you will get the most benefit from diamonds by wearing them in April. Of course, people might argue that wearing diamonds at anytime is a good thing!

Since each birthstone has heightened powers during its month then some people buy a set of all twelve and rotate them for each month. So where do you get a nice set of birthstones? Or even individual stones? The Purdy Jewels And Things online store is run by some very nice people who know a great deal about stones. They do some beautiful work with their birthstones. If you're interested in a matched set of birthstone rings you might want to look here.

The Modern Birthstone list contains the official birthstone list from the American National Association of Jewelers, Jewelers of America. These gemstones were officially adopted in 1912. In the US, this is the accepted list. The Traditional Birthstone list contains older birthstones and is sometimes combined with the modern birthstone list. These stones reflect societal birthstone traditions, heralding back to the 15th century. Many jewelers have differing lists of traditional birthstones. The Mystical Birthstone list is of Tibetan origin from over a thousand years ago. The Ayurvedic Birthstone list is from Ayurvedic Indian Medicine - a type of medicine used for over a thousand years. Stones listed in the Other Birthstones column were correlated by Dave Thompson and others participating on the usenet newsgroup rec.crafts.jewelry as alternative birthstones for each month, as well as from other online sources.

Many people decide to go with jewelry that combines several birth stones into one item, a birthstone bracelet, for example. Others prefer single stones. The birthstone chart below will provide you with all of the information you need to make a decision about which stones you want and when you would most benefit from wearing them.