The Twelve Birthstones

Often combined with modern birthstone lists, traditional birthstones are older society-based birthstones. Since many different cultures have their own list, jewellers’ lists are often inconsistent over what constitutes a traditional birthstone.

In 1912, in an effort to standardise birthstones, the (American) National Association of Jewelers officially adopted a list, shown in the “Modern” column in the table below.  The most recent change to the list was in 2002, with the addition of tanzanite as a December birthstone.