Why do different sources give different birthstones for this month?

Because they are copying different lists without saying which. The modern American list of 1912 and its revisions, older European traditional lists, and various regional lists all disagree, and none of them is an authority over the others. Any page presenting one answer as the birthstone is hiding a real disagreement.

Where did the modern birthstone list come from?

The American National Association of Jewelers agreed a standard list in 1912 so that shops in different states would stock and advertise the same stones. It was revised in 1952, tanzanite was added to December in 2002, and spinel to August in 2016. It is a commercial standard, and it works well as one.

When was spinel added to August?

In 2016, by the Jewelers of America and the American Gem Trade Association. It is the most recent change to the modern list, following the addition of tanzanite to December in 2002, and many printed birthstone charts have not been updated. The argument for it was that spinel is a fine, durable, often untreated gem that had been overlooked because it was historically confused with ruby.

Is the Black Prince's Ruby a ruby?

No, it is a red spinel. So is the Timur Ruby. Spinel and ruby occur together in the same deposits and look alike, and the distinction was not made until the eighteenth century, so several of the most famous rubies in European crown jewels turned out to be spinels once mineralogy caught up.

Why does peridot only come in one colour?

Because its colour is intrinsic to the mineral rather than caused by a trace impurity. Olivine's green comes from iron in its own structure, so the only variation is in intensity, running from yellowish to olive green depending on how much iron is present. Nearly every other gem gets its colour from a trace element that could just as easily be something else.

Do I have to wear my birthstone?

No. The month list is a shared convention rather than a prescription, and the only tradition that treats a stone as genuinely obligatory or inadvisable is Jyotish, which works from a birth chart rather than a birth month. A stone you chose for yourself will do more for your practice than one assigned by a committee.

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Birthstone · Month

August: peridot, spinel and sardonyx

August is the month where you can watch the list change in real time. Sardonyx is the traditional answer, peridot the modern one, and spinel was added by the American trade bodies in 2016, which means a chart printed before then is already out of date.

At a glance

The month whose list was amended in 2016, which is recent enough that many charts have not caught up.

Modern list: Peridot, sardonyx, and spinel added in 2016
Traditional European lists: Sardonyx
Older alternatives cited: Carnelian, moonstone
Zodiac signs in this month: Leo, Virgo
Vedic gems for those signs: Ruby for Leo, emerald for Virgo
Hardness: Peridot 6.5, sardonyx 7, spinel 8

Themes

brightness the mantle late addition harvest the overlooked gem

The modern answer

Peridot is the standard answer, with sardonyx retained from the older list and spinel added in 2016 by the Jewelers of America and the American Gem Trade Association.

Peridot is gem-quality olivine, magnesium iron silicate, and it comes from the earth's mantle rather than the crust, brought up in basalts. It is also found in pallasite meteorites, which makes it one of the very few gems that arrives from space in any quantity.

Peridot occurs in only one colour, a yellowish green whose intensity depends on iron content, which makes it unusual among gems.

Spinel is magnesium aluminium oxide, and its history is the reason it was added. For centuries the great red spinels of Central Asia were mistaken for rubies, including the Black Prince's Ruby in the British Imperial State Crown and the Timur Ruby, both of which are spinels.

The older lists

Traditional European lists give August to sardonyx, a banded chalcedony with brown-red and white layers used heavily by Roman cameo carvers.

Peridot's own antiquity is considerable. It was mined on the island of Zabargad in the Red Sea for at least three and a half thousand years, and Egypt supplied it to the classical Mediterranean. Much of what medieval Europe called topaz was in fact peridot, including some of the stones in the shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne cathedral.

Peridot was associated with the sun by several traditions, and Hawaiian tradition connects the olivine crystals found in its beach sands with Pele.

Spinel had no separate tradition precisely because it was not recognised as a distinct mineral until the eighteenth century; everything believed about red spinel was believed about ruby.

What these are like to own

Peridot is the softest of the three at 6.5 and is sensitive to acids and to sudden temperature change, so it should not be steam cleaned and should be kept away from household acids. It is otherwise a pleasant, inexpensive stone and one that is rarely treated, which is a real virtue.

Sardonyx is chalcedony at hardness 7 with no cleavage and will survive anything. Much of it is dyed, using processes documented in Roman sources.

Spinel at hardness 8 is durable, is often untreated where ruby would be treated, and is markedly cheaper than corundum of comparable appearance. Gemmologists have been recommending it for years for exactly that reason, and the 2016 addition reflects a genuine argument that it deserved recognition.

If you would rather have something else

Sardonyx is the traditional answer and the toughest option. Carnelian appears in some older lists.

August covers Leo and Virgo. Zodiac lists give Leo ruby, peridot or onyx, and Virgo sapphire, carnelian or peridot, so peridot serves both signs reasonably well.

In Jyotish, Leo answers to the Sun and ruby, and Virgo to Mercury and emerald, neither of which matches the month list. That mismatch is normal: the Vedic system works from a sidereal chart, and it is not trying to answer the same question the calendar list answers.

विचार के लिए प्रश्न

What have I mistaken for something more prestigious than it is, and does that change its worth?
What in my life was added late and is still finding its place?
If a stone came from the mantle or from space, what is the right amount of awe?

The stones named here

🟢

Peridot

Olivine from the mantle and from meteorites

🟤

Agate

Where sardonyx belongs

♌

Leo

The sign covering most of August

♍

Virgo

The sign after the twenty-second

🟢

The green ray

The ray peridot belongs to

Frequently asked questions

: Because they are copying different lists without saying which. The modern American list of 1912 and its revisions, older European traditional lists, and various regional lists all disagree, and none of them is an authority over the others. Any page presenting one answer as the birthstone is hiding a real disagreement.
: The American National Association of Jewelers agreed a standard list in 1912 so that shops in different states would stock and advertise the same stones. It was revised in 1952, tanzanite was added to December in 2002, and spinel to August in 2016. It is a commercial standard, and it works well as one.
: In 2016, by the Jewelers of America and the American Gem Trade Association. It is the most recent change to the modern list, following the addition of tanzanite to December in 2002, and many printed birthstone charts have not been updated. The argument for it was that spinel is a fine, durable, often untreated gem that had been overlooked because it was historically confused with ruby.
: No, it is a red spinel. So is the Timur Ruby. Spinel and ruby occur together in the same deposits and look alike, and the distinction was not made until the eighteenth century, so several of the most famous rubies in European crown jewels turned out to be spinels once mineralogy caught up.
: Because its colour is intrinsic to the mineral rather than caused by a trace impurity. Olivine's green comes from iron in its own structure, so the only variation is in intensity, running from yellowish to olive green depending on how much iron is present. Nearly every other gem gets its colour from a trace element that could just as easily be something else.
: No. The month list is a shared convention rather than a prescription, and the only tradition that treats a stone as genuinely obligatory or inadvisable is Jyotish, which works from a birth chart rather than a birth month. A stone you chose for yourself will do more for your practice than one assigned by a committee.

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