Alternative colours and gemstones to the common natural Birthstones.

Do you know your birthstone?  What if you don’t like your birthstone?  Here are some alternative birthstone colours.

I love all the different colours of gemstones and usually choose my favourites based on their colour!  But it can be wonderfully meaningful and significant to use a birthstone in your pieces.  You don’t have to use your own birthstone - it is wonderful to use the birthstone of your children or anyone that you want to hold close to your heart.

My birthstone in Ruby and I have to confess it is not my favourite colour!  But that doesn’t mean you should wear a piece that you don’t love.  Many birthstones come in a variety of colours and there are also alternatives  - so you can pick and choose the gemstones that appeal to you (and your budget!) most.  I have many of the alternatives in my Gemstone collection as I love to seek out the unusual colours and varieties.  (I blame studying gemmology for my addiction! ). All of my gemstones are natural as I just love the magic of something created by nature over millions of years, but of course you can choose synthetic stones too.

Here are a list of all the birthstones and their colour variations:

January - Garnet - comes in wine red, raspberry red, grass green and mandarin orange!  It especially looks great with oxidised (blackened) silver or yellow gold.

February - Amethyst - from pale purple to Royal purple, you can also get Mint green Amethyst.  Ametrine is also a bi coloured stone with Amethyst and Citrine in the same stone.

March - Aquamarine - from Pale mint green to Baby blue, I especially love milky opaque (not see through) Aquamarines.

April - Diamond - There are so many different options for Diamonds, for any budget these days!  From the traditional clear, to champagne, salt and pepper, black, cognac, yellow and if you want to splurge - pink Diamonds!  I love diamonds with some personality, especially cut in a old rose cut style.

May - Emerald - Pretty much just Green for Emeralds!  But you can get pale green to dark green.  There are also Trapiche Emeralds - where the crystal has grown in a wheel structure and creates an incredible Black star in the centre.

June - Pearl, Moonstone and Alexandrite - Pearls come in pale pink, cream, white, grey, black and golden.  Moonstones are a magical stone that has glowing flashes of Blue on a white base.  You can also get Peach and Grey moonstones with a cats eye effect.  Alexandrite is one of the rarest and most expensive gemstones, but for a good reason!  A beautiful Alexandrite can change from bluish green in daylight to purplish red with inside lights.

July - Ruby - Varying shades of bright pink red, my favorite are Star Rubies which show a six ray star under a direct light and have purple to pink base colours - often with cool crystal inclusions.

August - Peridot or Spinel - Peridot is a lime green colour, not one I often go for but I discovered recently it looks beautiful in yellow gold!  Spinels are not that well know but come in a lovely variety of colours in shades of pink,  purple and blue and even black.

September - Sapphire - Lucky September born people get a rainbow of colours to choose from when it comes to Sapphires!  The classic Cornflower Blue for the Ceylon Sapphire, Pink, purple, white, peach, yellow and green!  Australian Sapphires come in bold blues and yellow greens - when the two are in the one stone it is a party Sapphire!  There are also Star Sapphires which show a six ray star under a direct light and have white grey to dark blue base colours - often with cool crystal inclusions.

October - Opal and Tourmaline - Ah Opals, I didn't fall in love with them until I moved to Australia - white base with a rainbow of colour flashes, dark base with greens and blues, jelly opals which are clear with colour flashes and boulder opals where the opal is still on the Ironstone rock in beautiful details.  Tourmalines are a favourite of mine - they come in hot pink, yellow, peachy, and sea green and rarely blue.  Watermelon tourmalines are the triangular crystal shape, with a Green outside and pink inside - so fun!

November - Citrine and Topaz - Citrine comes in pale yellow to rich honey yellow, beautiful in gold.  Topaz is most commonly found in Pale blue to baby blue and more rarely in Pale yellows.

December - Tanzanite, Zircon and Turquoise - Three choices!  Tanzanite is a fabulous stone, from bold purple blue to pale violet.  Turquoise can be solid blue to green with lots of brown crazing.  Zircons are a wonderfully sparkly gemstone, lesser known (and not to be confused with Synthetic Cubic Zirconia) Comes in pale champagne browns, beautiful rose browns to spicy reds and browns, even some greens.

You can find all my birthstone options in earrings, Large Mandalas and bracelets the birthstone section  of my shop.  All earrings can be ordered in rose, yellow and white gold too.

More gold options and rings coming soon - but don’t wait for me, get in touch if you are looking for something in particular and I can show you a selection of gems and options.