Birthstone Jewelry: Shop by Month
The birthstone jewelry trend is on the rise as personalization creeps back into the fashion industry. Most people think that birthstones are a recent invention, but this type of jewelry dates back to Aaron’s breastplate. The breastplate is embellished with 12 gemstones in the Bible, each referring to Israel’s 12 tribes. The ancient historian Josephus claimed a connection between the 12 stones to the months of the year and then to the zodiac signs.
The Gemological Institute of America’s most famous gemologist, George Fredrick Kunz, traces the modern usage of birthstones to 8th-century Poland, while GIA thinks it began in Germany in the 1560s.
Birthstone lists differ by culture and era, with the most familiar list arising from the United States in 1912. In Kansas, the National Association of Jewelers, now known as Jewelers of America, created the modern birthstone list to develop a standardization level in the industry.
Over the past few years, new stones like Spinel and Tanzanite were added to accommodate modern discoveries and trends.
The listing below follows the most up-to-date version of the US list in 2019.
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