Birthstones

Many colored gemstones are also recognized as "birthstones," with one popularly and historically associated with each of the twelve calendar months. Learn more about each:

January: Garnet

Legend has it that Noah, builder of the Ark, used a garnet lantern to navigate through the dark rain of his 40 days and nights odyssey. Known in ancient and Biblical texts as the carbuncle, garnet was considered a sacred gem used to designate religious initiates. King Solomon wore garnets into battle as a talisman.

February: Amethyst

Few gemstones are as immediately associated with royalty, majesty and the right to rule as is the amethyst. Since purple was the color most difficult and costly to produce anciently, it came to designate sovereignty and station in almost all civilizations. The royal scepter used by English regents is topped by an amethyst globe.

March: Aquamarine

Surely Neptune, god of the sea, created this blue gem symbolizing seafaring journeys of old. So visually evocative of water, the name aquamarine translates to "sea-water" as derived from the Latin aqua for water and mare for sea.

April: Diamond

Ancient Hindus believed that diamonds resulted when thunderbolts hit the earth. Whether colorless, bright canary, warmest mocha, exotic black, or the rarest pink, blue, red and green, diamonds have a similarly powerful effect.

May: Emerald

From Colombia to Zambia, from pyramids to mines of Solmondoco, the greenest gem has captivated kings, conquerors and collectors. Since the human eye is more sensitive to green than any other color, the emerald has been an ageless symbol of man's desire for youth, vitality and rebirth. The name origin is the ancient Greek smaragdus for green.

June: Pearl

In whites as crystalline as bridal satin, pinks as rosé as an honest blush, ivories as mellow as antique lace mantillas and mysterious black-greys with aubergine and green overtones, there are pearls suitable for every woman. Whether the Audrey Hepburn-ish multiple strand chokers or the single strand necessity, pearls are quintessential elegance.

July: Ruby

"The perpetually glowing fire that never is extinguished," say the ancient texts. "As red as pigeon's blood" describes gems from the Mogok mines of old Burma which are older than history. Through the ages, "ruby red" has noted the pinnacle of the color, from its Latin origin ruber or rubrum.

August: Peridot

How ironic that a gem as lively a green as budding mimosas or new grass is mined on a small desolate island where nothing grows, there is no fresh water and the temperature is scorching for the majority of the year. Since antiquity, this island in the Red Sea named Zabargad in Arabic has been mined for peridot. Some of its geologic fissures are lined with gem crystals, and tiny peridot crystals give some of its beaches a greenish hue. Peridot is rooted in the Greek word peridona meaning plentiful.

September: Sapphire

The blue gem of the ages, sapphire has roots in the Greek sappheiros for Sappherine, the island where ancient Greek records say sapphires were discovered. The early Arabic safir and the Latin sapphirus also meant blue. In ancient Persian lore, the earth rested on a large sapphire whose reflection colored the skies, and in Hebrew tradition the Ten Commandments were written on sapphire tablets.

October: Opal

The gem with the flash fire colors of the skies - rainbows, lightning, fireworks - was believed by ancient Arabs to have fallen from the heavens in flashes of lightning. The Orphanus opal in the Holy Roman Emperor's crown was described as "pure white snow flashed and sparkled with the color of bright ruddy wine, and ... overcome by this radiance."

November: Topaz

In colors from the golden rays of the rising sun to the glowing embers of dusk, topaz is a gem of brilliance. Derived from the Sanskrit for fire, topaz aptly symbolized the sun gods of ancient cultures.

December: Turquoise

Turquoise is one of the earliest known gems used in jewelry, utensils and religious ritual items. The 5500 B.C. mummy of Queen Zer was found with her arm encased by four exquisite turquoise bracelets. Long considered Iran's national gem, ancient turquoise amulets were found inscribed with Persian proverbs and passages from the Koran. The robin's egg or sky blue variety from the Middle East is the most prized.