Quelle est la pierre de naissance de chaque mois ?

Janvier le grenat, février l'améthyste, mars l'aigue-marine, avril le diamant, mai l'émeraude, juin la perle, la pierre de lune et l'alexandrite, juillet le rubis, août le péridot et le spinelle, septembre le saphir, octobre l'opale et la tourmaline, novembre la topaze et la citrine, décembre la turquoise, le zircon et la tanzanite. Plusieurs mois comptent officiellement deux ou trois pierres, ce qui laisse un vrai choix.

Quelle est la pierre de naissance de septembre ?

Le saphir, et plus précisément le saphir bleu — c'est la couleur que la tradition associe au mois de septembre. Symbole de fidélité, il est aussi la pierre de couleur la plus portée en bague de fiançailles, notamment parce que sa dureté de 9 sur 10 en fait l'une des rares gemmes colorées qui supportent un port quotidien sans précaution.

Toutes les pierres de naissance peuvent-elles être portées tous les jours ?

Non, et l'écart est considérable. Le diamant, le saphir, le rubis, l'alexandrite et le spinelle supportent un port quotidien sans précaution. Le grenat, l'améthyste, l'aigue-marine, la tourmaline et la citrine conviennent avec un peu d'attention. En revanche la perle, l'opale, la turquoise, la tanzanite et la topaze demandent de vraies précautions : soit elles sont tendres, soit elles possèdent un plan de clivage qui les rend sensibles aux chocs. Pour une bague portée tous les jours, mieux vaut le savoir avant.

D'où vient la tradition des pierres de naissance ?

Elle remonte aux douze pierres du pectoral d'Aaron décrites dans le livre de l'Exode, rapprochées bien plus tard des douze mois de l'année. La liste moderne date de 1912, quand une association de bijoutiers américains a fixé une correspondance officielle. Elle a été modifiée depuis : la tanzanite a rejoint décembre en 2002, le spinelle août en 2016. C'est ce qui explique les variantes selon les sources.

Peut-on choisir une autre pierre que celle de son mois ?

Bien sûr. La liste de 1912 est une convention commerciale, pas une règle. Beaucoup de nos clients partent de leur pierre de naissance et repartent avec une autre couleur, simplement parce qu'elle leur va mieux au teint ou à la main. La pierre de naissance est un bon point de départ pour une conversation, rarement un point d'arrivée.

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What Is My Birthstone?

Bonnot Paris

April 29, 2026

5 min read

Bonnot Paris · The Journal of Precious Stones 2026

What is your birthstone?

The complete calendar of the twelve months — colours, symbolism and the origin of the tradition. Plus the question no one asks: which ones can be worn every day, and which cannot.

By François Deprez, founder · Complete guide · 8 min · Updated August 2026

One stone for each birth month: the tradition is ancient, but the list everyone uses today is only just over a century old — and it has changed three times since.

Its origins can be traced back to the twelve stones of Aaron’s breastplate, described in the Book of Exodus and associated much later with the twelve months of the year. The modern list, meanwhile, dates from 1912 : an association of American jewellers then established an official correspondence. It has since been revised — tanzanite joined December in 2002, spinel joined August in 2016. This explains the variations still found from one source to another.

Here is the complete calendar, followed by the only thing truly useful to know before turning one into a piece of jewellery: not all of these stones can withstand being worn in the same way.

Month	Stone(s)	Symbolism
January	Garnet	Courage, loyalty, energy
February	Amethyst	Serenity, balance, creativity
March	Aquamarine, bloodstone	Hope, renewal, peace
April	Diamond	Strength, eternal love
May	Emerald	Honesty, wisdom, balance
June	Pearl, moonstone, alexandrite	Beauty, intuition, transformation
July	Ruby	Passion, courage, vitality
August	Peridot, spinel, sardonyx	Confidence, luck, serenity
September	The most worn Blue sapphire	Loyalty, wisdom, royalty
October	Opal, tourmaline	Self-confidence, love, creativity
November	Topaz, citrine	Joy, optimism, prosperity
December	Turquoise, zircon, tanzanite	Serenity, wisdom, protection

Several months offer a choice

June, August, October, November and December officially have two or three stones. This is not an approximation: it is the result of successive revisions to the list, often prompted by availability — natural pearl had become impossible to find, and opal too fragile for many uses. If you do not like your birthstone, look at another one: you have every right to.

January · Garnet — An entire family rather than a single stone. The velvety reds, from burgundy to purple, come from almandine and pyrope, the most widespread varieties. spessartite garnet is rarer, and its red clearly leans towardsmandarin orange ; tsavorite, meanwhile, is distinctly green and among the most sought-after garnets.
February · Amethyst — Violet quartz, from pale mauve to deep purple. Long valued as highly as ruby, until the discovery of Brazilian deposits in the 19^th century caused its price to collapse. Serenity, balance, creativity.
March · Aquamarine — Blue beryl, from translucent pale blue to turquoise reflections — from the same mineral family as emerald, but without its fractures. A symbol of hope and inner peace, and the stone of tin anniversaries.
April · Diamond — The ultimate stone of commitment, and the star of diamond engagement rings. Icy transparencies, but also coloured diamonds — yellow, pink, blue, green — whose rarity is beyond compare.
May · Emerald — From meadow green to forest green. Honesty, wisdom, balance. It is also the gem of emerald anniversaries, forty years of marriage. Our complete guide to emeralds details its criteria, which differ greatly from those of other gems.
June · Pearl, moonstone, alexandrite — The best-endowed month, and the most delicate: pearl and moonstone are soft. Alexandrite, on the other hand, changes colour depending on the lighting — green in daylight, red in warm light — and has a hardness of 8.5. It is the only one of the three that can be worn without a second thought.
July · Ruby — From carmine to blood red, and the highest price per carat of all coloured gemstones. Passion, courage, vitality. It is also the stone of ruby anniversaries, thirty-five years. See our ruby guide and ruby engagement rings.
August · Peridot, spinel — Peridot glows in zesty greens, from olive to golden green. Added to the list in 2016, spinel exists in almost every colour and is found almost always natural and unheated — a rarity on the coloured-stone market.
September · Blue sapphire — From midnight blue to royal blue. Tradition associates September with blue specifically, although the green sapphire is sometimes cited as an alternative. A symbol of fidelity, it is by far the most commonly worn coloured stone in engagement rings — see the blue sapphire engagement rings and the meaning of sapphire.
October · Opal and tourmaline — Opal for its shifting fires, tourmaline for its range of colours, from soft pink to deep green, via blue and purple. Turquoise Paraíba is its rarest and most expensive variety.
November · Topaz and citrine — Two yellows that are often confused, yet have nothing in common: topaz is an aluminium silicate, citrine a simple quartz. Joy, optimism, prosperity.
December · Turquoise, zircon, tanzanite — Tanzanite, deep blue and sometimes violet, only joined the list in 2002. It has just one deposit in the world, in Tanzania, at the foot of Kilimanjaro — making it one of the rare gems of which one can reasonably say that it will eventually run out.

A useful clarification about zircon

The zircon of December is a natural, ancient gemstone with remarkable brilliance. It has nothing to do with “zirconia” or cubic zirconium oxide, which is an inexpensive synthetic stone made to imitate diamond. The similarity between the two words perpetuates constant confusion, even among sellers.

This is the only truly decisive information on this page, and no birthstone calendar provides it. Between June’s pearl and April’s diamond, the difference in durability is like that between a fingernail and a steel blade. Anyone giving a ring with their partner’s birthstone should know this beforehand, not afterwards.

Verdict	Stones	Why
Worry-free everyday ring	Diamond, sapphire, ruby, alexandrite, spinel	Hardness 8.5 to 10. And corundums — sapphire and ruby — have no cleavage planes : they withstand impacts.
With a little care	Aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet, amethyst, citrine, peridot	Hardness 6.5 to 8. Remove for gardening and housework, but perfectly suitable for everyday wear.
Emerald, apart	Emerald	Hardness 7.5 to 8 — therefore hard — but crossed by natural fractures that make it brittle. Never use ultrasound.
Real precautions better as a pendant	Topaz, tanzanite, opal, turquoise, moonstone, zircon, pearl	Either soft (pearl 2.5–4.5 · turquoise 5–6 · opal 5.5–6.5), or possessing perfect cleavage which causes them to shatter upon impact — this is the case with topaz and tanzanite despite their respectable hardness.

Hardness and toughness are not the same thing

Hardness hardness measures resistance to scratching; toughness measures resistance to impact. Topaz scores 8 out of 10 — more than tourmaline — yet splits cleanly against the corner of a piece of furniture, because it has a perfect cleavage plane. A ring is knocked far more often than it is rubbed. Toughness is what matters, and it is what nobody looks at.

The practical consequence is simple: if the person’s birthstone is in the last row, it will make a magnificent pendant or pair of earrings, and a disappointing everyday ring. It is better to change the jewel than force the stone — or choose the month’s second stone, when there is one.

A bespoke-set birthstone has an advantage few jewels possess: it carries a date without needing an engraving. A garnet for January, an emerald for May, a sapphire for September — the jewel becomes a marker, and that is what makes it heirloom-worthy.

We work exclusively with coloured gemstones, sourced directly from our offices in Sri Lanka, where our team works on the market every day, as well as in Thailand and in Jaipur. Depending on the month, the calendar stone is therefore one of our specialities — September, July, May, January, August, October — or not at all: we offer neither pearls, opals nor turquoises.

A year-end tip

If you are giving a birthstone jewel, do not choose the colour on a screen. A photographed garnet always appears more vivid than it really is; a tanzanite, more violet. And this is even truer of ruby, whose fluorescence simply cannot be photographed. Our guide to precious stones explains how to compare them, and bespoke creation details how a project unfolds.

What is September’s birthstone?

The blue sapphire — it is the colour that tradition specifically associates with September. A symbol of fidelity, and by far the most commonly worn coloured stone in engagement rings: its hardness of 9 out of 10 makes it one of the few coloured gemstones that can withstand daily wear without special care. See blue sapphire engagement rings.

Why do some months have several stones?

Because the list has been revised. As natural pearls became impossible to find, moonstone and thenalexandritewere added to June. Tanzanite joined December in 2002, and spinel August in 2016. If you do not like your stone, you are entitled to choose another.

Can they all be worn every day?

No, and the difference is enormous. Diamond, sapphire, ruby, alexandrite and spinel: no problem. Pearl, opal, turquoise, tanzanite and topaz: real precautions — either soft, or with a cleavage plane that makes them shatter when struck. For an everyday ring, you need to know this before buying.

Is December’s zircon the same as cubic zirconia?

No, and it is a common confusion. Zircon is an ancient natural gemstone with a beautiful brilliance. Cubic zirconia — cubic zirconium oxide — is an inexpensive synthetic stone created to imitate diamond. Two similar words, two unrelated things.

Where does the tradition come from?

Of the twelve stones of Aaron’s breastplate in the Book of Exodus, associated much later with the twelve months. The modern list dates from 1912 and was established by an association of American jewellers — in other words, it is a commercial convention, not an age-old rule.

Can you choose a stone other than the one for your birth month?

Of course, and it is common. Many of our clients arrive with their birthstone and leave with another colour, simply because it suits their complexion or hand better. A birthstone is a good starting point for a conversation, rarely an end point.

A stone, a date, a jewel that bears it

Meet François Deprez to see the stones in person and choose the one that truly suits you — in colour as well as in use. In Paris, Angers or by video call.

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