July's birthstone is Ruby...but apparently it's not the only one!

Personally, I love using rubies! They come in so many different variations (you can read a bit more here).  I've done quite a jewellery pieces using rubies, partly because my best friend has a birthday in July (and you can never have enough jewellery, right?).

Here's a rough ruby crystal that gives you an idea of what they look like:

photo: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=320953

and here's an example of a faceted stone:

photo: By Humanfeather - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6969673

I kind of assumed that was the whole story on birthstones, but I recently found out that there are a whole host of other options.  For example, in the 15th century, turquoise or onyx were considered to be the birthstones. 

Turquoise pebble, photo: By Adrian Pingstone - w:Image:Turquoise.pebble.700pix.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121438

onyx, photo: By Simon Eugster --Simon 14:41, 11 April 2006 (UTC) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=697130

If you're from Britain, you might prefer carnelian.

carnelian beads, photo: By 欅 (Keyaki) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12405199

Alternatively, if you're a Cancer, you might prefer to consider the emerald as your birthstone.  
Don't like your "month" birthstone? There's also a stone designated for each day of the week!  I really never knew there were so many traditions around birthstones! 

As you know, we all love stones at the studio!  Regardless of your birthstone, why not come and check out what's new at the studio, check out making your own piece of jewellery featuring a gemstone, or discuss having a new piece made featuring your favourite gemstone, birthstone or otherwise!

Happy Saturday!

Robin.