Zodiac Birthstones by Sign

Zodiac birthstones are gems assigned to the twelve star signs instead of the twelve calendar months. There is no official list: jewelers' associations publish birthstones by month only, and zodiac lists come from older astrological tradition and vary. The best-documented one runs from bloodstone for Aries to amethyst for Pisces. The chart below sets it beside the stones jewelers usually suggest.

Zodiac birthstone chart

The "traditional zodiac stone" column follows the list of zodiacal gems printed by the gem historian George Frederick Kunz in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913). The last column uses the modern American birthstone list. Sign dates shift by a day in some years.

Why there is no single list

Three facts explain the confusion found online.

Trade bodies only publish months. The American Gem Society, Jewelers of America and the Gemological Institute of America list birthstones by calendar month. None of them issues a zodiac list.

The old lists disagree with each other. Kunz printed the list above and, right after it, "an old Spanish list" that he thought reflected Arab tradition. It gives crystal to Aries, ruby and diamond to Taurus, sapphire to Gemini, agate and beryl to Cancer, topaz to Leo, jasper to Libra, garnet to Scorpio, emerald to Sagittarius, chalcedony to Capricorn and amethyst to Aquarius. Not one sign has the same stone in both.

Modern charts often just reuse the months. Britain's National Association of Jewellers sets a star sign beside each month of its birthstone table: Capricorn with January's garnet, Aquarius with February's amethyst, and so on through Sagittarius with December's tanzanite. That is simple to use, but it treats each sign as if it sat inside one month, when every sign in fact straddles two.

So when two websites give different stones for your sign, neither is necessarily mistaken. They are following different traditions, or simplifying in different ways.

Where zodiac stones come from

The link between gems and the zodiac is very old. As Kunz recounts, the first-century historian Josephus and, later, St. Jerome connected the twelve stones of the high priest's breastplate in the Book of Exodus with both the twelve months and the twelve signs. For centuries the two systems ran side by side.

Kunz called these "astral" or "zodiacal" stones and noted that the signs "do not exactly coincide" with the months "but overlap them." He saw that as an advantage: a person could choose between the stone of the month and the stone of the sign. Rings set with a stone engraved with its zodiac sign were fashionable in Europe by the 18th century, and Catherine de' Medici is said to have worn a belt of twelve engraved stones in the 16th.

Look closely and the traditional zodiac list is largely the old month list rearranged: most signs take the stone of the month in which they begin. Garnet, January's stone, goes to Aquarius, which starts in late January; amethyst goes to Pisces; bloodstone, the old March stone, goes to Aries. The verses Kunz prints for the signs are close cousins of the birthstone rhymes for the months.

The stone for each sign, in brief

• Aries: bloodstone. A dark green chalcedony with red spots, long linked with courage. See March's birthstones.
• Taurus: sapphire. Blue corundum, a symbol of sincerity; details under September.
• Gemini: agate. A banded chalcedony in many colors, inexpensive and durable.
• Cancer: emerald. The green of May's birthstone, which needs gentle care.
• Leo: onyx. Black or banded chalcedony, a relative of the sardonyx listed for August.
• Virgo: carnelian. An orange-red chalcedony, today Britain's alternative stone for July.
• Libra: chrysolite. The old name for peridot, the yellowish green gem of August.
• Scorpio: beryl. The mineral family of aquamarine and emerald; aquamarine is the usual choice.
• Sagittarius: topaz. Golden topaz, as for November.
• Capricorn: ruby. Red corundum, now July's birthstone; in older month lists ruby belonged to December.
• Aquarius: garnet. Deep red, the same as January.
• Pisces: amethyst. Purple quartz, shared with February.

Several of these, including agate, onyx, carnelian and bloodstone, are modestly priced chalcedonies, which makes the zodiac list a friendly one for small budgets.

How to choose between a zodiac stone and a birthstone

1. Check both. Find your sign in the chart, then your month in our birthstones by month guide. Many people have two or three options.
2. Go by color. If your month's stone is a color you never wear, the zodiac stone gives you a second chance.
3. Go by wear. For a ring worn daily, sapphire, ruby and topaz are harder than agate, onyx or carnelian, though those cope well with ordinary use.
4. Go by price. Sapphire, ruby and emerald are costly; agate, onyx, carnelian and bloodstone are not. Between sign and month there is usually an affordable option.
5. Ignore the rules. Nothing bad follows from wearing the "wrong" stone.

Do zodiac stones do anything?

Old writers claimed a great deal. The verses Kunz collected promise friendship from garnet, freedom from care from amethyst and even a cure for "diseases of the mind" from sapphire. He recorded these as curiosities of belief, and that is how they should be read.

Astrology and gem lore are traditions, not science. A stone cannot change your character, your luck or your health, and it does not treat any illness. Choose a zodiac stone because you like how it looks and enjoy the story behind it.

For more zodiac fun, compare two signs with our compatibility tool; for everything tied to one date, enter it below to see the birthstone, birth flower and zodiac sign together.