Jet of the Day - Erika Price

So you think you know your birthstone?!

While my passion is creating one-of-a-kind jewelry using lampwork glass and sterling silver, I also love to use gemstones. I'm frequently asked to incorporate birthstones in my bespoke designs, particularly in my pure silver pieces. If I ever had the time to make a gemstone piece especially for myself I would probably choose a deep blue sapphire, as these and diamonds are my favorite gemstones. But I would never, ever choose my actual birthstone, which is a green emerald, because green is my least favorite color. So, do you know what your birthstone is? Are you sure?!

Birthstones are precious or semi-precious gemstones that symbolize our birth in some way, usually our birth month. They first became popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the jewels listed in the "Traditional Birthstones" column in the table below all date from this period

Almost every country or region traditionally had their own list of birthstones. As a result, birthstones can represent not only the calendar month we were born in, but almost anything to do with our birth, including the time and place of our birth, the lunar month, the day of the week and our Zodiac sign

Many of us will be familiar with the birthstone chart above, which is the most-widely used across the world today. It was standardised by what is now Jewelers of America in 1912, and these gemstones are the "Modern Birthstones" listed in the chart below

Occasionally more than one stone is listed for a particular month. For example the traditional birthstone for April is both diamond and sapphire. This is because historically the traditional birthstone for April in the West has been the diamond, while in Hebrew society it is the sapphire. Many cultures have believed in the healing and protecting powers of gemstones, and the lists of Mystical and Ayurvedic birthstones above both date back over a thousand years: the Mystical birthstones are of Tibetan origin, while the Ayurvedic list is taken from Ayurvedic Indian Medicine

So you now have a choice of two or more birthstones, according to your preference! If you're looking for a special piece of jewelry in your particular birthstone, click this link to see more beautiful handmade birthstone pieces from the Jewelry on Etsy Team. Here are just a few of my favorites for the first quarter of 2012!

January - Garnet Earrings by TraceDesigns

February - Amethyst Ring by Jewelry24Seven

March - Aquamarine Earrings by DesignsByCher

Abridged from an article first published March 2011 by Erika Price