History of Birthstones...

Birthstone jewelry is hot,hot,hot especially for Mom's and teens. I do remember being a young girl and loving the cheap costume birthstone jewelry they sold in the girls section of department stores. My Mom use to let me pick out what I thought was such gorgeous jewelry and was always pleased when they had my stone, the Emerald.

I had no idea how popular birthstone jewelry was but after shipping off my last batch of Mother's Day orders today (yes some of my customers waited until the last minute but we won't name names!) I thought about how many little birthstones I hand wire wrapped this month, let just say it was a lot.

I of course had to do some research about the history of birthstones so here is what I discovered.

A birthstone coordinates with the month a person is born. There have been many different sets of birthstones used throughout history and in different cultures. In 1912, in an effort to standardize them, the American national association of jewelers, Jewelers of America, officially adopted the following list; it is currently the most widely used list in the United States and many other locations, including Australia and Thailand. Some alternates have been adopted to be a less expensive substitute for a cut stone.

Traditional Birthstones:

January:Garnet
February:Amethyst
March: Aquamarine
April:Diamond
May: Emerald
June: Pearl,moonstone,alexandrite
July: Ruby
August: Peridot
September:Sapphire
October: Tourmaline,pearl
November: Topaz,Citrine
December: Turquoise

I think jewelry history is just fascinating!

Visit my shop to see my collection: http://www.klacustomcreations.etsy.com