You're not alone! But if you're new to the color groove, why not learn a little? Find your birthstone and discover just how beautiful it is. Of course, this is just a small selection of the many gemstones available today. We encourage you to start here, then step outside your birthstone and venture on to new and glorious shades. The possibilities are endless.
January — Garnet Lucky January babies can get a lot of looks from their birthstone the garnet. While traditional garnet may be reminiscent of an autumn sunset with its warm rustic tones, garnet is actually available in several colors, including rare green shades.
February — Amethyst When looking for an amethyst, search for one with a deep, rich, full-bodied color. Amethyst is a sign of luck and victory. No wonder its color symbolizes royalty!
March — Aquamarine Not to be confused with sky blue topaz, a good aquamarine possesses a signature pale blue color. But the real joy of aquamarines is that they're also known to make wishes come true!
April — Diamond Not only the symbol of love and truth, diamonds are also known to bring luck and success! If you'd like to learn more about buying diamonds, but sure to read our section on the Four Cs.
May — Emerald Venus, the goddess of love, believed emeralds inspired faithfulness and never-ending love. And with their deep green hues, maybe they do! A member of the beryl family, natural emeralds often withhold internal characteristics called gardens. While clear natural emeralds are available, they are also quite rare. For a clear green gem, try a created emerald.
June — Pearl There is beauty beneath the sea, and nothing brings it to us with such elegance and luster as nature's own organic gem the pearl. Both freshwater and saltwater (also known as akoya) pearls are found naturally as well as cultured, that is, harvested by man.
If you are lucky enough to have a June birthday, you also get an alternative birthstone, alexandrite. Shifting from reddish purple to greenish blue, depending on the light source, alexandrite offers two very unique looks. While natural alexandrite is quite expensive, created alexandrite is just as beautiful and a lot more cost effective.
July — Ruby A member of the corrundum family, rubies are just a step down in hardness from a diamond. They are also believed to bring health, wealth, wisdom and love. After all, their crisp red color, much brighter and truer than that of a garnet, is also of the heart.
August — Peridot Did you know? Peridot means outer space and is found, among other places, in meteorites! Because each harvest yields different hues, peridots offer a beautiful selection of color from shades of olive to Granny Smith apple.
September — Sapphire Available in every color of the rainbow, including black, sapphires are also part of the corrundom family, just like rubies. In fact, a red sapphire is actually a ruby and gets its bright color from iron. Folklore has it that ancient Persians once believed the earth rested on a blue sapphire, hence creating the blue sky, and that clouds were reflections of white sapphires.
October — Opal Roman historian Pliny once said, There is in them a softer fire than the ruby, there is the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald - all shining together in incredible union. We couldn't have said it better. Made of silica, natural opals contain a minute trace of water content, which when combined with a crystal matrix causes that prismatic fire everyone loves. While some opals offer a pin fire with dots, others display a harlequin fire with larger patches of color. Even more unique is boulder opal, which actually has attached a sliver of the rock in which the opal was found. Boulder opals are only found in Lightning Ridge, Australia.
November — Citrine French for "lemon", pretty citrine is known to boost confidence, bring clarity and energize the spirit. From its traditional bright sunny yellow to fire citrine's almost sherry tones to maderia citrine's warm brown shades, citrine offers a plethora of looks that complement more everyone.
December — Tanzanite If you're born in December you now get to celebrate your birthday with exotic blue-violet tanzanite, mined only in Tanzania. But how did it get those captivating shades? Tanzanite actually starts out brown, but is heated to bring out its blues and violets. Although bluer shades are more valuable, both violet and blue are absolutely stunning. A relatively new gem, making its appearance in jewelry less than half a century ago thanks to Tiffany & Co.
For more traditional birthday babies, try a blue topaz. Although it starts out colorless, blue topaz is irradiated, producing pretty blue shades such as sky, Swiss and London blue.
