Birthstones are classified as precious and semi-precious stones, each one symbolizing a month of the year. These jewels (rings, pendants, bracelets, brooches, earrings, anklet…) are custom made according to the month of birth of your children, your husband or boyfriend, a close friend…

Making your jewel with a birthstone

We want you to tell us what you want exactly for the making of a personalized jewel, such as the stone, the type of jewel, the shape etc…

But sometimes, it is not easy to decide what you want and you do not really know what the budget will be in the end.

In order to make things easier, we offer a product series with birthstones in our basic collection. The shape is already designed and you know what the price is. It could also be a basis for you. You could start from this and ask us for something a little bit different or more elaborated and personal.

Our birthstone series: the basic collection

Our jewelry with birthstone: our creations

Over time, we realized different jewelry designs with birthstones, most often, for the beauty of the stone, not with the idea of presenting them in this section. This is most original jewelry as our basic range that you can find by clicking on the following buttons.

/!\ We remind you that we are artisan jeweler and not dealer. If one of the jewelry with a birthstone of our catalog is marked sold and please you, do not hesitate to contact us. We are usually able to present a similar piece.

Look for birthstones jewelry example with the buttons:

A birthstone jewel with your sketch

These jewels are custom made with the type of jewelry you want. There are several possibilities: ring, brooch, earrings, bracelet, anklet, cuff links…

Therefore, you will have to give me the month of birth and the associated stone. We will then think about the shape and the type of jewel. If it is a ring, do not forget to provide your ring size and the stones you want etc….

The process is the same than for a personalized jewel. You can find all the conditions on the page: personalized jewel. We draw a sketch and if you like it, I will assess the price of it according to the weight of sterling silver and the amount of work it will take me to make it.

You can check all the examples on the site.

When you will be ready, contact me at contact@emmanuelleguyon.com

Origins and history of birthstones

The origin of the idea of having a stone per month has been discussed a lot. When you like things to be clear, it is not an easy task with birth stones.

The debate is happening between two groups and it is not easy to understand. The first group is about the persons who are convinced of the ancient origin of birthstones. They will give you any reason from different countries, from different civilizations to convince you about the foundations of birthstones, till sometimes with ridiculous explanations...

The other group is more down to earth… they think birthstones have not roots and it is only a business invention…

Therefore, finding an honest explanation about the roots of birthstones is a bit complicated. I will then only quote some examples that make me think that birthstones are not only limited by their origin or their beauty, and each one of us can get his own idea.

I am keener on thinking that offering a jewel symbolizes something special for you or something that makes you think of someone and guides you in the choice of a stone. It is a personal symbol, which can be linked to your family and children.

The stones of the twelve tribes of Israel

Nobody can say they know the origin of birthstones. But a majority seems to agree about the possible link in their origin with the stones symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel.

You can find their reference in the Old Testament in the Bible, in the book of Exodus. God asked Aaron who was the priest of Israel, to make a garment which was set with twelve precious stones. Each of them would represent the twelve sons who were to be the chiefs of the twelve tribes of Israel. This garment called Ephod was then worn by the main priests of the Jerusalem temple as a mean of communication with God.

Here again, the exact list is difficult to establish because of the different translations made of the Bible, and more especially of the Old Testament. We are still not sure of the translation of some of the stones of the Israel tribes.

It is quite possible that the stones of the tribes of Israel are the origin of birthstones. But we cannot say for sure when and how we came to a stone associated to a specific month.

Grid with the stones associated to the tribes of Israel. In bold, you will find the translation of the stones we know for sure. The stones in italic are the ones we are still not sure about.

 

Christian symbols and astrology with birthstones

The stones of the 12 tribes of Israel would appear to be already related to the Zodiac signs from the first century A.C. Bit by bit; they have been associated with therapeutic virtues or were given a power by their owner.

During the 8th and 9th centuries, the twelve stones were analyzed in religious and philosophical essays. Beyond the astrology signs, the 12 stones are associated to the 12 apostles, to the stones of foundation, to the 12 doors of the celestial city in the last book of the bible etc… They are given symbols, therapeutic virtues and powers.

As it was common at that period, you should wear the 12 stones once a month. The use of a sole stone was then established by Polish scholars in the 18th century.

Birthstones: a jeweler marketing

The concept of an individual birthstone is quite new, even if some people are looking for dubious origins in different cultures and which are difficult to check.

The current birthstone list was defined in 1912 by the Jewelers of America in the USA. It is strongly inspired by the stones of the twelve tribes of Israel which criteria we do not really know about. We cannot say that the main goal here was to make things easier to understand for people, or if it was just a question of marketing and selling.

However, this 1912 first list was changed several times. In 1952, the Alexandrite stone was added to the month of June and the Citrine to November. It was also specified that the Tourmaline was pink for October, and the lapis lazuli of december was replaced by the Zircon. A recent change happened in 2002 when the Tanzanite was added to the month of december.

As you can see by yourself, these changes are just for a commercial purpose. They are made to help selling some stones and to help the market of jewelry. Indeed, British silversmiths made their own list in 1937… It is a really interesting market for sure.

Birthstones and months

As we said earlier, there are several birthstone lists and several explanations, true or not, about Arabian, Hebrew or Hindu birthstones.

To keep it simple and clear, we will only use the current birthstone list

1	January: Garnet	7	July: ruby
2	February: amethyst	8	August: peridot
3	March: bloodstone jasper, aquamarine	9	September: sapphire
4	April: Diamond, white moonstone	10	October: opal, tourmaline
5	May: emerald	11	November: Topaz, Citrine
6	June: Fresh water pearl, moonstone, alexandrite	12	December: Turquoise, lapis lazuli, Zircon

A birthstone for a personal jewel

In spite of the different origins, offering a birthstone is a special gift which is personal and symbolizes something for you. It is the special feeling of offering something unique that made me want to offer a jewelry series with birthstones in this shop.

It helps you decide quickly the stone to choose. Moreover, it is special because it is directly linked to the person by symbolizing his or her month of birth. The second thing about birthstones is that of the symbol.

• A child will be proud of having a jewel associated to his or her month of birth. It can be earrings for a little girl, a bracelet for a boy with maybe his name on it…
• For a mother, it will be a beautiful gift with a stone symbolizing his or her child, or a stone for each of her children. It could be a ring with all the birthstones or a set of stacking rings for each of them. It could be a bracelet or a brooch… It could also be a gift for a father. This gift will be perfect for mother's day or for a mum to be.
• You can also imagine a set of two rings symbolizing your birth month and the one of your partner. It would be a great symbol of your relationship.
• It can be a gift for a special day such as when you met your loved one, or for getting a diploma etc…