I don’t wear blue from September 1 to December 1. Perhaps the occasional pair of jeans or a navy sweater or an errant stripe of midnight blue in a plaid scarf will make an appearance, but mostly I avoid it–blue just isn’t a fall color. Fall is the season of crisp leaves and grey skies and pumpkin pie and college football (certainly no blue allowed there), and I feel like my sartorial color palette should match the season’s spirit.
So then why… WHY… is September’s birthstone sapphire? What about these warm days filled with yellowing grass and apple picking makes you think “deep blue?” Nothing, that’s what. The longer I thought about, the more I realized that the birthstones chosen for most months make absolutely no sense. I tried to do a bit of research as to why the stones were chosen for their respective months, but the best I could find were websites that explained the symbolic and historic significance of each stone. I could not find out why aquamarine is the March birthstone or why garnet is the January birthstone (the AI overview at the top of each search did make up a lot of theories–if anyone knows how I can turn this feature off, please share. AI remains embarrassing).
If you’re interested in the topic at all, I have included a brief history of birthstones here. The list we Americans are most familiar with (garnet, amethyst, aquamarine, diamond, emerald, pearl, ruby, peridot, sapphire, opal, topaz, turquoise/tanzanite/blue topaz) was established in 1912 by the National Association of Jewelers in Kansas City.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and have adjusted the official birthstone list to better fit with the (temperate climate, northern hemisphere) seasons they are associated with. Each month has a primary and secondary gemstone; all of the pairings would look lovely together (especially seasonally) in a moi et toi ring.
I have workshopped this list with my best friend, a student (an interested student who likes geology, I swear! She didn’t even call them “crystals” when we talked about it), and my husband (who believes this is an excuse for me to acquire more jewelry–a fair estimation), and I am confident this list should be adopted by all. I’ll write to those gents in Kansas City stat.
January
Sapphire: January is obviously a better choice for sapphire than September. January is cold and dominated by the night sky and icy breezes. Deep blue fits well here.
Moonstone: For the same reasons as above, since so much of January is spent in night and winter is a “cool” season, moonstone is a wonderful secondary birthstone for January.
February
Ruby: The pinky hues of rubies make it the ideal Valentine’s Day gemstone.
Amethyst: I nearly kept amethyst as the primary birthstone, I just felt ruby fit the vibe a little better. Amethyst would of course compliment ruby perfectly in the Valentine’s Day color palette.
March
Ametrine: March is one of my favorite months of the year: it’s the start of spring, which means St. Patrick’s Day and flowers. Ametrine is a crocus in a gemstone, and therefore is the perfect birthstone for March.
Peridot: Plants are beginning to grow again, but the greenery isn’t quite the rich of emeralds yet; the yellow green of peridot is much more aligned to the flora of early spring.
April
Morganite: April is my birth month, and while I love the main character energy that having diamond as your birthstone provides, I think morganite is a better fit for the season. The light pink of morganite is at home with the color schemes of Easter and April’s sweet spring flowers.
Tanzanite: April is also well-known for its rain, and tanzanite is a lovely, rain-reminiscent stone.
May
Emerald: Emerald is one of the two birthstones I kept! May is all about lush vegetation, and there is no better stone for that than emerald.
Blue Topaz: I think the hope of May’s blue skies is well-reflected in blue topaz.
June
Pearl: June’s birthstone is the other birthstone I kept. Summer is (or at least should be!) all about the sea, and there is no other birthstone that literally comes from the sea.
Aquamarine: I went all in on mermaid vibes with the pairing of pearl and aquamarine. I love the way it looks on a ring too.
July
Watermelon Tourmaline: There is no deeper thought to this than “watermelon is July is the best.”
Diamond: Sparklers on the fourth of July and nights filled with fireflies = diamonds.
August
Aquamarine: As I said before, summer is all about the ocean. Therefore what better gemstone is there to represent your last opportunity to lay out on the beach than aquamarine?
Sunstone: August feels like the hottest month of the year here in Ohio (even if that title officially goes to July), and sunstone celebrates the celestial being responsible for our collective oppression.
September
Peridot: Peridot is a much better gemstone than sapphire for a month of apple picking and yellowing grass (seriously, I need the name of the individual who chose this so I can ouija board them and find out just what they were thinking).
Citrine: The color of warm apple bread on the first morning below 65 degrees.
October
Citrine: Depending on the color of stone, citrine is also the color of pumpkins. Again, not too much depth of thought here.
Black Rutilated Quartz: I wanted a black stone to compliment citrine in October, and the black needles in this quartz variety reminded me of spiders. Spooky!
November
Garnet: Crimson nails, turned red maples, cranberry sauce, and a glass of pinot noir on Thanksgiving–November is dominated by garnet red.
Smoky Quartz: This is hyper specific to my life, but in Animal Crossing (yes I still play when I need a moment of peace!), November is the mushroom hunting season. Brown does feel like a prevalent color in November anyway, but this really is an homage to my little character in her little cream sweater running around “Bob Evans Island” trying to find as many mushrooms as she can.
December
Diamond – White or Black: The white of falling snowflakes, the black of the night sky. The white of twinkling lights, the black of cocktail dresses for holiday parties and New Year’s Eve. I didn’t think a birthstone list would be complete without diamonds, and December felt the most appropriate. Besides, who doesn’t want a diamond on Christmas Day?
Garnet: It was a toss up between garnet and emerald as the secondary color for December, but I love garnet more! It’s my list, so I can do whatever I want!
I have loved talking about, looking at, and wearing gemstones for as long as I remember, and if you do too, I highly recommend Stoned by Aja Raden.
That’s it! Have a great rest of your week!
One response to “OOO #106: Outfits, Ohio, and Other Things I Like”
So many thoughts!
1) to get rid of terrible AI summaries on google searches, just add -ai to all your search terms (no quotes or parentheses needed)
2) last year SNL perfectly captured your fall color sentiments – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABphTaZwE_w
3) I 100% support your new gemstones (mainly because I now get Black Rutilated Quartz!!)
Thank you for continuing to fill my inbox with incredible insights and trivia!