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.

Is zircon the same as cubic zirconia?

No, and the name similarity causes constant confusion. Zircon is a natural mineral, zirconium silicate, and the oldest dated material on earth is a zircon crystal from Western Australia. Cubic zirconia is a synthetic zirconium oxide made as a diamond simulant since the 1970s. They share part of a name and nothing else.

When was tanzanite added to December?

In 2002, by the American Gem Trade Association, making it the newest addition to the birthstone list apart from spinel in 2016. It was found in 1967 near Merelani in Tanzania and named by Tiffany the following year. It occurs in one small area and nowhere else, which is unusual even among gems.

Why is turquoise so heavily faked?

Because demand far exceeds the supply of good natural material and dyed howlite is convincing at a glance for almost no cost. Assume a cheap bright blue piece is dyed unless the seller can name the mine. Genuine turquoise is also usually stabilised with resin, which is normal and should be disclosed.

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

December: turquoise, tanzanite and zircon

December has the most crowded list in the calendar, and it spans six thousand years. Turquoise was mined in Sinai before 3000 BCE. Tanzanite was found in 1967 at the foot of Kilimanjaro and added to the list in 2002, which makes it the newest birthstone there is.

At a glance

The month with the most crowded list, including a stone found in 1967 that exists in one place on earth.

Modern list: Turquoise, zircon, and tanzanite added in 2002
Traditional European lists: Turquoise, ruby, lapis lazuli
Older alternatives cited: Lapis lazuli, blue topaz
Zodiac signs in this month: Sagittarius, Capricorn
Vedic gems for those signs: Yellow sapphire for Sagittarius, blue sapphire for Capricorn
Hardness: Turquoise 5.5 and porous; tanzanite 6.5; zircon 7.5 but brittle

Themes

safe return the singular find the year's end blue the recent addition

The modern answer

Turquoise and zircon are the older modern entries, and tanzanite was added in 2002 by the American Gem Trade Association.

Turquoise is a copper aluminium phosphate, opaque, porous, and one of the oldest gems in continuous human use. It is also the most faked stone on the market by a wide margin.

Zircon is zirconium silicate, and it is worth defending: it is a genuine and very old mineral, not to be confused with cubic zirconia, which is a synthetic diamond simulant with a similar name and nothing else in common. The oldest known terrestrial material is a zircon crystal from Western Australia dated to about 4.4 billion years.

Tanzanite is a variety of zoisite coloured by vanadium, found in a strip of hills a few kilometres long at Merelani near Kilimanjaro and nowhere else on earth. Tiffany named it in 1968.

The older lists

Traditional European lists give December turquoise, with ruby, lapis lazuli and blue topaz appearing across various regional versions. That spread is why December ended up with the longest modern list: there was more to reconcile.

Turquoise's own history is deep and geographically spread. Egypt worked Sinai from before 3000 BCE under state expeditions recorded at the temple of Hathor, called the lady of turquoise. Persia mined Nishapur for millennia. The American Southwest has worked Cerrillos and other deposits for around two thousand years, and turquoise remains a living ceremonial material in Pueblo, Navajo and Zuni practice rather than a historical curiosity.

The travel association is the most consistent anywhere: turquoise on a horse's bridle in Persia and Turkey to prevent falls, and on riders in the Southwest.

Tanzanite has no old tradition at all, and any page giving it one is fabricating.

What these are like to own

Turquoise needs the most care. At hardness 5.5 and porous, it absorbs skin oils, cosmetics, perfume and detergent, all of which shift its colour towards green permanently. Most turquoise on the market is stabilised with resin to make it workable, which is honest when declared, and a great deal of what is sold is dyed howlite or magnesite.

Tanzanite at 6.5 has one cleavage direction and needs a protective setting. Nearly all of it is heated to move brownish zoisite towards violet-blue, which is standard and stable.

Zircon at 7.5 is hard but brittle, and its facet edges chip with wear. It has very high dispersion, which gives it more fire than most gems, and blue zircon is heat-treated brown material.

If you would rather have something else

Lapis lazuli is the traditional alternate and is a fine, cheap way to a deep blue, though it too is soft and porous.

December covers Sagittarius and Capricorn. Zodiac lists give Sagittarius turquoise, which agrees with the calendar, and Capricorn garnet, onyx or jet.

In Jyotish, Sagittarius answers to Jupiter and yellow sapphire, and Capricorn to Saturn and blue sapphire, the gem the tradition warns about most. Neither matches the month list, which is normal.

Pytania do refleksji

What am I coming home from, and what did I bring back?
What in my life is genuinely one of a kind, and am I treating it accordingly?
If a thing has only been known for sixty years, does that make it less real?

The stones named here

🔵

Turquoise

Six thousand years, and the most faked stone

🟣

Tanzanite

One deposit, found in 1967

🔷

Lapis lazuli

The traditional alternate

♐

Sagittarius

The sign covering most of December

♑

Capricorn

The sign after the solstice

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.
: No, and the name similarity causes constant confusion. Zircon is a natural mineral, zirconium silicate, and the oldest dated material on earth is a zircon crystal from Western Australia. Cubic zirconia is a synthetic zirconium oxide made as a diamond simulant since the 1970s. They share part of a name and nothing else.
: In 2002, by the American Gem Trade Association, making it the newest addition to the birthstone list apart from spinel in 2016. It was found in 1967 near Merelani in Tanzania and named by Tiffany the following year. It occurs in one small area and nowhere else, which is unusual even among gems.
: Because demand far exceeds the supply of good natural material and dyed howlite is convincing at a glance for almost no cost. Assume a cheap bright blue piece is dyed unless the seller can name the mine. Genuine turquoise is also usually stabilised with resin, which is normal and should be disclosed.
: 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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