Birthstone Rings

Often, a birthstone ring is a woman’s first piece of jewelry, marking their popularity as newborn gifts or in the years that follow to signify each passing year. There are any number of excellent birthstone rings that will make you, your friend’s, or your lover’s heart melt.

Birthstones By Month

It’s first important to understand each birthstone and for which month it is given. Below is a list of birthstones and each month they represent.

January Birthstone – Garnet

Garnet is most often a beautiful red color, however many examples of rarer finds include bright green.

February Birthstone- Amethyst

Amethyst is a deep but bright purple color, and looks excellent when set in a gold ring.

March Birthstone – Aquamarine

Imagine a beautifully cut diamond laced with light blue color and what you see is essentially aquamarine.

April Birthstone – Diamonds

The April babies sure got a winner here. Next to the most rare opals, diamonds are one of the most desired and expensive birthstones and gems.

May Birthstone – Emerald

Emeralds are beautiful, shiny, green gems that look great set in white gold or silver.

June Birthstone – Pearl

Not often found on a ring, pearls look great against both gold and silver.

July Birthstone – Red Ruby

The red ruby is a very deep and dark red, and is often much brighter and shinier than January’s garnet.

August Birthstone – Peridot

Peridot is perhaps the most unique of all the birthstones with a beautiful yellow-green color that looks great in a sterling silver ring.

September Birthstone – Sapphire

Sapphire is a brilliant blue color that looks great inlaid with silver or spiced up with accent diamonds.

October Birthstone – Opal

Opal can be any color, or a number of colors. If you really want to make a splash, consider a fire opal which has strong red, yellow, and orange colors.

November Birthstone – Citrine

Citrine is often discounted because its a bronze color, but match it with a shiny setting like white gold or silver and the color really comes out.

December Birthstone – Topaz

Topaz can be any color, from amber to blue, however blue topaz birthstones are certainly the most popular color.

Selecting a Ring

Birthstone rings can range from ultra-pricy to drop dead inexpensive. Much of their value has to due with the birthstone itself (April’s diamonds are far more expensive than November’s citrine, for example) but also on the cut and quality of the stone and the purity and metal type of the ring.

There is no standard for the kind of setting in which a birthstone should be set. As you can see in the list above, some colors work better with gold settings while others stand out on silver. The choice, however, is up to you. Many jewelers stock two kinds of birthstone products, either fully complete rings with a setting and a stone or setting and stones that have not yet been put together. When shopping for individual pieces, keep in mind the color of the stone, the tone of the wearer’s hand and the fact that some stones may require specific settings. Emerald, for example, is often cut into a square or rectangle, so it requires a four pronged setting. Circular cuts, however, require only three prongs.

Selecting the Stone

Without diving in to each individual stone and the ways to examine it, instead we’ll leave you with a very simple piece of advice.

While a number of birthstones can come in different colors and shades, the general rule of thumb is that there is a more popular color that is more often accepted as jewelry. Garnet, for instance, is most popularly accepted as a red birthstone, although it often appears to be brown or bronze. The brown and bronze garnet pieces, while still garnet, rarely make it to jewelry and are instead most often used in making sandpaper. While you may have picked the right birthstone, the color of brown or bronze garnet would not even come close to matching any birthstone standard.