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History of Birthstones

Aaron's Breastplate and Other Addresses (by Harris, James Rendel)
The book of Exodus (by Chadwick, G. A. (George Alexander))
The Book of Revelation (by Carr, Wiilam G.)
A Dissertation on the Calendar and Zodia... (by Mure, William, 1799-1860)
Songs of the Birthdays (by Shurtleff, Ernest Warburton)
Popular Gemology (by Pearl, Bichard M.)

Many people have heard of birthstones, the gemstones correlating to the month of one’s birth date. Most people don’t know where the custom originated. As with many ancient customs, birthstones align with religious traditions.

First century Jewish historian Josephus introduced the idea of a gemstone corresponding to a person’s month of birth to each of the 12 stones in Aaron’s breastplate as described in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 28:15-21). Those 12 stones also represented the 12 signs of the zodiac and the 12 tribes of Israel (Numbers 1:1-19).

Unfortunately, Josephus could not decide which twelve stones belonged on the list. The Christian Bible and the Torah both describe Aaron’s breastplate in detail; however, they also list different gemstones. Getting in on the debate, St. Jerome, the son of Eusebius, argued that Christians should use the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem as described in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 21:19-20).

The Gemological Institute of America discusses the ambiguity of the gemstones in both the fabled breastplate and the foundation stones. Adding further difficulty to identification of those gemstones, names used in ancient times differ from modern terms today. For example, the term “sapphire” in Biblical times often referred to lapis lazuli and “chrysolite” to peridot.

Twelve being something of a magical number to Christians, religious treatises in the Eighth and Ninth centuries associated birthstones with the 12 apostles of Christ. With each stone correlating to a specific apostle within a specific month, people adopted the custom of wearing the stone that pertained to that month regardless of when any particular person was born. Scholars dated this one-stone-per-month fashion as early as Sixteenth century Germany.

In centuries since, the assignment of gemstones to specific months fluctuated with fashion. Poems in the lunar-based Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582, assign a gemstone to each month. In 1870, Tiffany & Co. published the Gregorian birthstone poems, author unknown:

By her who in this month (January) is born
No gem save garnets should be worn;
They will ensure her constancy,
True friendship, and fidelity.

The February-born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they an amethyst will wear.

Who in this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a bloodstone to their grave.

She who from April dates her years,
Diamonds shall wear, lest bitter tears
For vain repentance flow; this stone,
Emblem of innocence, is known.

Who first beholds the light of day
In spring's sweet flowery month of May
And wears an emerald all her life
Shall be a loved and happy wife.

Who comes with summer to this earth,
And owes to June her hour of birth,
With ring of agate on her hand
Can health, wealth, and long life command.

The glowing ruby shall adorn,
Those who in July are born;
Then they'll be exempt and free
From love's doubts and anxiety.

Wear a sardonyx or for thee,
No conjugal felicity;
The August-born without this stone,
`Tis said, must live unloved and lone.

A maiden born when September leaves
Are rustling in September's breeze,
A sapphire on her brow should bind
`Twill cure diseases of the mind.

October's child is born for woe,
And life's vicissitudes must know,
But lay an opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.

Who first comes to this world below
With drear November's fog and snow,
Should prize the topaz's amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.

If cold December gave you birth,
The month of snow and ice and mirth,
Place on your hand a turquoise blue;
Success will bless whate'er you do.

With different birthstone lists circulating, gemology associations and jewelers associations in different countries attempted to standardize the assignment of gemstones to months, mainly for marketing purposes. In the USA, the Jewelers of America (formerly the National Association of Jewelers) adopted a standardized list in 1912, which The Jewelry Industry Council of America updated in 1952. The American Gem Trade Association adjusted the list in 2002, and again in 2016.

By Karen M. Smith