Your birthstone feels ancient, like something an oracle handed down at birth. It was approved at a jewelers' trade meeting in Kansas City in August 1912.
That doesn't make it meaningless. It does mean you're allowed to ignore it.
The meeting that made the list
The idea of a stone for every month is old. Exodus describes twelve stones on the high priest's breastplate, and in the first century the historian Josephus linked those twelve to the twelve months. Actually wearing your month's stone came much later. The gem expert George F. Kunz traced the custom to 18th-century Poland.
The list most Americans know is younger still. According to Jewelers of America, the official birthstone list was established in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, the trade group that became Jewelers of America. Kunz noted where and when it was approved: Kansas City, August 1912.
It reshuffled a lot. Ruby moved from December to July. Sapphire moved from April to September. April got diamond. Even JCK, the industry's own trade magazine, describes the picks as strategic, made so American jewelers could promote and sell these stones in large quantities.
Even the era's top gem expert had notes
Kunz was the gemstone expert at Tiffany & Co., later its vice president, and he wrote about the new list the following year in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. He was not a fan.
The new list, he wrote, "can scarcely be said to offer a satisfactory solution." He warned against letting "the spirit of commercialism pure and simple" choose the stones. He called sapphire "properly the gem for April." He suggested dropping diamond from the list, since it didn't appear on any birthstone list before the 1800s. He thought the pearl "is not a stone in any sense of the word" and shouldn't be on the list at all.
And his firmest rule: "there should be no duplication or triplication of birth-stones for any given month."
Hold that thought.
Then the trade kept adding stones
The list has been updated three times, each time by industry groups.
In 1952, the Jewelry Industry Council of America added alexandrite, citrine, pink tourmaline and zircon. In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association added tanzanite for December, announcing it on October 30, just ahead of the holiday season. Its executive director told JCK there's "no astrological authority" behind birthstones, and said the group hoped tanzanite would be the perfect gift that year. In 2016, spinel joined August, with a launch to consumers through a public relations and marketing campaign.
December now has three stones. Sorry, George.
Even GIA is candid about why some months have extras. Differing traditions get cited, it says, but "the more significant reason is that some gemstones are too rare and expensive, and others just aren't as popular."
| Month | Official US birthstones |
|---|---|
| January | Garnet |
| February | Amethyst |
| March | Aquamarine |
| April | Diamond |
| May | Emerald |
| June | Pearl, moonstone, alexandrite |
| July | Ruby |
| August | Peridot, spinel |
| September | Sapphire |
| October | Opal, tourmaline |
| November | Citrine, topaz |
| December | Turquoise, tanzanite, blue zircon |
Your birthday picked a month. You get to pick the color.
Wear the color you actually love
So here's our take. A birthstone is a lovely tradition and a perfectly good reason to choose a piece. It just isn't a rule, and it was never handed down from anywhere higher than a trade meeting. If you're a November baby who has loved hot pink since kindergarten, wear the pink.
That's how we design. Our stones are hand-set crystals, not birthstones or mined gems, and each one is chosen for one reason: the color.
Sakura, $69, puts a hot-pink pear crystal in a little cluster of pink, brown and moonstone-toned stones.
Vermillion, $69, is a deep red heart crystal on a slim gold band, flanked by tiny white stones.
“Red is my favorite color. Oomiay sells my favorite rings. I wanted something dainty but bold. It does not disappoint!”
Raindrop, $89, gathers blues from deep navy to pale sea blue across a slim sterling silver band.
Country Club, $69, sets an emerald-green crystal into a cluster of white ones. No May birthday required.
And for anyone who can't pick one color, our mystic topaz crystals shift through green, violet and blue as they move. Neptune, $69, sets a mystic topaz star in our Black Gold finish.
Wear the color. The calendar will cope.
Shop the story
Sakura Ring
Vermillion
Raindrop Sterling Silver Ring
Country Club RingQuestions about birthstones
Who decided the birthstones?
The modern US birthstone list was adopted in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, now Jewelers of America, at a meeting in Kansas City. Industry groups updated it in 1952, 2002 and 2016.
Why do some months have more than one birthstone?
According to GIA, differing traditions are part of it, but the bigger reason is that some stones are too rare and expensive and others aren't as popular. Alternates give shoppers more choices.
Is it bad luck to wear a stone that isn't your birthstone?
No. The birthstone list is a jewelry-trade tradition, not a rule. Wear the stones and colors you love.
Are Oomiay's stones birthstones?
No. Oomiay uses hand-set crystals (5A cubic zirconia and crystal glass) chosen for their color. "Mystic topaz" is our name for a color-shifting crystal, not mined topaz.
Wink Ring
Spell Ring
Gold Double Hoop Dangle Earrings
Gold Star Bezel Tennis Necklace