Birthstones
The traditional month-by-month birthstones, from garnet in January to turquoise in December.
Amethyst
The purple variety of quartz — the most prized member of the quartz family, coloured by iron and irradiation.
Read entry → GemstoneAquamarine
The sea-blue variety of beryl — emerald's clearer, hardier cousin, coloured by iron.
Read entry → GemstoneCitrine
The yellow-to-orange variety of quartz — November's warm birthstone, most of it heat-made from amethyst.
Read entry → GemstoneDiamond
Pure crystalline carbon — the hardest natural material and the enduring symbol of the precious stones.
Read entry → GemstoneEmerald
The green variety of beryl — valued for its vivid colour despite near-universal inclusions.
Read entry → GemstoneGarnet
Not one mineral but a whole silicate group — January's birthstone, most familiar in deep red.
Read entry → GemstoneMoonstone
A feldspar gem with a floating blue-white glow — adularescence, the "moonlight" sheen.
Read entry → GemstoneOpal
A hydrated silica gel famous for play-of-colour — soft, water-bearing and unlike any crystalline gem.
Read entry → GemstonePearl
An organic gem grown by molluscs — soft, lustrous nacre requiring gentle care.
Read entry → GemstonePeridot
August's vivid green birthstone — gem olivine coloured by its own iron content.
Read entry → GemstoneRuby
The red variety of corundum — second only to diamond in hardness, and coloured by chromium.
Read entry → GemstoneSapphire
Corundum in every colour but red — famed for its blue, and prized for durability.
Read entry → GemstoneTanzanite
A blue-violet zoisite found in just one place on Earth — heat-treated and pleochroic.
Read entry → GemstoneTopaz
A hard aluminium fluorosilicate spanning colourless to imperial orange — with a notable cleavage to respect.
Read entry → GemstoneTurquoise
A sky-blue copper phosphate valued for millennia — soft, porous and often stabilised.
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