All twelve months with both lists side by side — modern and traditional. They agree more often than the disagreement gets talked about: 2 months out of 12 name a different stone.
| Month | Modern | Traditional | Color | Zodiac |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | Garnet | Deep red | Capricorn, Aquarius |
| February | Amethyst | Amethyst | Purple | Aquarius, Pisces |
| March | Aquamarine | Bloodstone | Pale blue to sea green | Pisces, Aries |
| April | Diamond | Diamond | Colorless | Aries, Taurus |
| May | Emerald | Emerald | Green | Taurus, Gemini |
| June | Pearl, Moonstone, Alexandrite | Pearl | White, cream and color-shifting | Gemini, Cancer |
| July | Ruby | Ruby | Red | Cancer, Leo |
| August | Peridot, Spinel | Sardonyx | Yellow-green | Leo, Virgo |
| September | Sapphire | Sapphire | Deep blue | Virgo, Libra |
| October | Opal, Tourmaline | Opal | Iridescent and multicoloured | Libra, Scorpio |
| November | Topaz, Citrine | Topaz | Yellow to amber | Scorpio, Sagittarius |
| December | Turquoise, Zircon, Tanzanite | Turquoise | Blue to blue-violet | Sagittarius, Capricorn |
Highlighted cells are the months where the two systems name different stones.
4 of the 19 modern stones never reach quartz at 7: Pearl, Moonstone, Opal and Turquoise. In January and December, no modern stone stays at 7 or above across its whole range.
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The modern list is younger than most people assume. American jewelers standardized it in 1912 through their national association, and it has been amended since — tanzanite was added to December in 2002, more than eighty years after the original list, and spinel to August in 2016. So a birthstone can be a twentieth-century commercial decision rather than an ancient assignment.
The traditional list is older and varies by source, because it was never centrally agreed. Most months survived standardization unchanged — only 2 name a different stone, and in both cases the older one was displaced by something easier to supply: aquamarine replaced bloodstone in March, peridot replaced sardonyx in August. Where they differ, a jeweler shows the modern stone, since that is what the trade adopted.
There is also a third system entirely, running by zodiac sign rather than calendar month, with roots in older astrological lore. Birthstones by zodiac sign →
Primary source
In The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913), the gem expert George Frederick Kunz set eight older birthstone lists side by side: Jewish, Roman, Isidore of Seville’s, Arabian, Polish, Russian, Italian, and one for the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. Each month page quotes his tally. The month verses on those pages are by an unknown author; Tiffany & Co. first printed them in a pamphlet in 1870. The modern American list came later, adopted by the National Association of Jewelers in Kansas City in August 1912.
The old favorite is still the first modern stone in 3 months: January, February and November. Some lists give a month two stones, so a month’s tallies can add up to more than eight.
Household dust contains quartz, which sits at 7 on the Mohs scale, so stones softer than that slowly scratch and dull when worn every day. For an engagement or everyday ring, hardness matters more than tradition.
| Month | Stone | Mohs hardness | Everyday ring? |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | 6.5–7.5 | Yes |
| February | Amethyst | 7 | Yes |
| March | Aquamarine | 7.5–8 | Yes |
| April | Diamond | 10 | Yes |
| May | Emerald | 7.5–8 | With care |
| June | Pearl | 2.5–4.5 | Better in earrings or pendants |
| June | Moonstone | 6–6.5 | With care |
| June | Alexandrite | 8.5 | Yes, easily |
| July | Ruby | 9 | Yes |
| August | Peridot | 6.5–7 | With care |
| August | Spinel | 8 | Yes, easily |
| September | Sapphire | 9 | Yes |
| October | Opal | 5.5–6.5 | With care |
| October | Tourmaline | 7–7.5 | Yes |
| November | Topaz | 8 | With care |
| November | Citrine | 7 | Yes |
| December | Turquoise | 5–6 | With care |
| December | Zircon | 6–7.5 | With care |
| December | Tanzanite | 6–7 | With care |
Garnet (January), Amethyst (February), Aquamarine (March), Diamond (April), Alexandrite (June), Ruby (July), Spinel (August), Sapphire (September), Tourmaline (October), Citrine (November). Diamond, ruby and sapphire are the classic choices; spinel and alexandrite are harder than most people expect.
Emerald (May), Pearl (June), Moonstone (June), Peridot (August), Opal (October), Topaz (November), Turquoise (December), Zircon (December), Tanzanite (December). Pearls and opals react to perfume, heat and dry air; turquoise is porous and changes color with skin oils. Hardness is not toughness, either: emerald is full of tiny fractures and topaz splits along a cleavage plane, so both need a protective setting despite scoring 7.5 and up.
Where a month has a soft stone, the harder stone listed alongside it is often the practical pick — alexandrite instead of pearl or moonstone for June, tourmaline instead of opal for October. Choosing birthstone jewelry →
AstroHot. “Birthstones by Month: All 12 Months and Their Stones.” Accessed November 2, 2026. https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/
{{cite web |title=Birthstones by Month: All 12 Months and Their Stones |url=https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-11-02}}
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