Most people can name two or three gemstones, especially if one of them happens to be their ‘birthstone’. All of them are stunning and worthwhile to wear while also being rather inexpensive in certain cases. What are gemstones, really? And while on the subject, what is a ‘birthstone’?
Also known as ‘gems’, or ‘precious and semi-precious stones’ or ‘jewels’, the fantastic array of gemstones cover some of the prettiest colors you’d ever find in jewelry with the most precious to date being diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. The others named as ‘peridot’, ‘amethyst’, ‘tanzanite’, ‘turquoise’, ‘aquamarine’, and ‘garnet’ are still only a few in the long list of gemstones either synthetically or authentically founded. They can be shaped, heated, irradiated, waxed, or oiled to create some of the most brilliant colors based off their inherent hues as well. Some other names such as ‘hematite’, ‘chrysocolla’, ‘Tigers-eye’, ‘quartz’, ‘sugilite’, and ‘lapis lazuli’ round out a more earthy tone of jewelry than your everyday round-cut or diamond-cut gems and diamonds out there.
The traditional birthstones are as follows:
- January – Garnet
- February – Amethyst
- March – Bloodstone
- April – Diamond
- May – Emerald
- June – Pearl
- July – Ruby
- August – Peridot
- September – Sapphire
- October – Opal
- November – Topaz
- December – Turquoise
Furthermore, some set of birthstones differ from culture to culture. For instance, ‘mystical’ birthstones differ from the modern traditionals with the February birthstone trading Amethyst with Bloodstone and March’s Bloodstone trading with the creamy Jade. April’s Diamond switches to the Opal while May’s Emerald goes into Sapphire. Respectively, the rest of the months shuffle to include other gems such as Moonstone, Agate, Jasper, and Onyx.
With a history dating way back to biblical times, the beauty of gemstones–regardless of culture–is a phenomenal display of the colors of the world.