LunaThe chart: month → stones
The main stone of each month is highlighted; the rest are alternates the trade treats as equally valid. The third column shows which two star signs fall inside that month — month and sign give different stones, and that is expected.
| Month | Stones (main first) | Star signs in this month |
|---|---|---|
| January | garnet | ♑ Capricorn (through January 19), ♒ Aquarius (from January 20) |
| February | amethyst | ♒ Aquarius (through February 18), ♓ Pisces (from February 19) |
| March | aquamarine, bloodstone | ♓ Pisces (through March 20), ♈ Aries (from March 21) |
| April | diamond | ♈ Aries (through April 19), ♉ Taurus (from April 20) |
| May | emerald | ♉ Taurus (through May 20), ♊ Gemini (from May 21) |
| June | pearl, moonstone, alexandrite | ♊ Gemini (through June 20), ♋ Cancer (from June 21) |
| July | ruby | ♋ Cancer (through July 22), ♌ Leo (from July 23) |
| August | peridot, sardonyx | ♌ Leo (through August 22), ♍ Virgo (from August 23) |
| September | sapphire | ♍ Virgo (through September 22), ♎ Libra (from September 23) |
| October | opal, tourmaline | ♎ Libra (through October 22), ♏ Scorpio (from October 23) |
| November | topaz, citrine | ♏ Scorpio (through November 21), ♐ Sagittarius (from November 22) |
| December | turquoise, zircon, tanzanite | ♐ Sagittarius (through December 21), ♑ Capricorn (from December 22) |
Close up: five stones from the chart
January garnet, February amethyst, the pearl of June, October opal and December turquoise, seen up close. Every month page shows its stone the same way — a living illustration with a glint travelling across the face.
Where the month chart came from
Nothing in geology or astronomy ties a mineral to a page of the calendar. The chart everyone quotes was agreed by American jewellers in 1912, in Kansas City, so that shops across the country would sell one list rather than twelve. It has been edited since: alexandrite, citrine, tourmaline and zircon were added in 1952, and tanzanite joined December as late as 2002 — thirty-five years after the stone was first dug up in Tanzania.
So when two shops give you two different stones, neither of them is lying. British lists keep bloodstone for March where American ones print aquamarine. June carries pearl from the old custom and moonstone plus alexandrite from the newer one. Read any of these charts as a custom with a paper trail — a dated commercial agreement — and not as a fact about the person born that month.
Month or star sign: what actually differs
Two traditions, two starting points. The month stone comes out of the jewellery trade — a commercial list with a date and named authors. The zodiac stone comes out of astrology, derived from the ruling planet and the element of the sign. One person can easily end up with two stones, and neither list cancels the other.
If the astrological route appeals more, the zodiac birthstones section has a list for each of the 12 signs and an explanation of why schools disagree. Sign dates and the cusps between them live under zodiac signs.
Buying a birthstone as a gift
Gifts are what the chart was built for, and it still does that job well: you already know the month, you need not ask anything, and the choice narrows from hundreds of minerals to one or two. Size is not part of the tradition — a small stone in a plain setting means exactly what a large one means.
What should not go in the box is a promise. A stone will not heal, shield or enrich anyone, and telling someone otherwise can do real harm if they are unwell and postpone seeing a doctor because of it. “Your month, your stone” is the whole claim, and it is enough.
Frequently asked questions
Traditional or modern birthstone — which one is correct?
Both, depending on the chart you open. The traditional lists are older, the modern ones were revised in 1952 and 2002 to add stones that are easier to source and cut. Nobody arbitrates between them, so pick the stone you actually like. The astrological alternative is under zodiac birthstones.
Do birthstones have any real powers?
No, and no chart has ever shown otherwise. What a birthstone does is more modest and quite real: it marks a date and reminds you of it every time you catch it in the light. For health, see a doctor; for decisions, trust yourself rather than a mineral.
The month-by-month chart is a 20th-century jewellery custom, not science: no link between a mineral and a birth date has ever been demonstrated. Stones do not heal and do not steer events — health questions belong with a doctor, not with a pendant. The stone images on this page are generated illustrations, not photographs of particular specimens.
A reading from the whole date, not the month
A month stone is shared with everyone born in those thirty days. In the app, Luna reads your full birth date instead: destiny matrix, strengths, a daily forecast — told out loud in her own voice.
Open Luna