April 20 – May 20 · Earth

Taurus birthstones

Taurus carries Emerald and Sapphire in the zodiac tradition.

Emerald

Composition Beryllium aluminium silicate (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) coloured by chromium or vanadium
Hardness · System 7.5–8 · Hexagonal

Almost every emerald contains internal fractures — the trade calls them jardin, "garden". A flawless emerald is more suspicious than impressive.

Traditionally linked to loyalty, growth and honest speech.

Sapphire

Composition Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) — corundum coloured by iron and titanium
Hardness · System 9 · Trigonal

Padparadscha — a pink-orange sapphire named after the lotus flower — is the rarest colour and outprices most blues.

Traditionally associated with judgement, focus and keeping a promise.

Sign or month?

Taurus runs April 20 – May 20, which crosses two calendar months — so the zodiac stone and the monthly birthstone may or may not agree depending on your exact date. Neither system overrules the other; the zodiac one is simply older.

Compare against the monthly chart →

← All zodiac birthstones

Two systems, one birth date

Taurus spans 2 calendar months, so you have more than one birthstone

Zodiac stones Emerald, Sapphire
Months it covers April and May
Stones of those months Diamond, Emerald
In both systems Emerald

April 20 – May 20 — so the sign opens in one month and closes in another. Why the two lists never line up →

The split is uneven: 11 days fall in April and 20 in May. So most people with this sign — 65% — are sold the May stone.

Both stones — Emerald and Sapphire — also sit in the monthly list somewhere, which is the usual case.

April Diamond May Emerald

The stones themselves

Stone Mohs Crystal system Main sources
Emerald 7.5–8 Hexagonal Colombia, Zambia, Brazil
Sapphire 9 Trigonal Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Myanmar

Emerald is the softer at 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale — at 7 or above it resists everyday wear, including rings. What the scale means →

Emerald

Beryllium aluminium silicate (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) coloured by chromium or vanadium Mined in Egypt from around 1500 BCE; Cleopatra famously claimed the mines

Sapphire

Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) — corundum coloured by iron and titanium Worn by medieval clergy as a symbol of heaven; prized in Persia and Kashmir