Short answer: May’s birthstone is emerald — the green variety of beryl, which the U.S. Geological Survey places at 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs hardness scale. That...
Short answer: April’s birthstone is diamond — and that single word covers three different things once you start shopping. Mined and lab-grown diamonds are both genuinely diamond.
Short answer: October has two birthstones, opal and tourmaline, and the honest difference between them is durability. Opal is soft and sensitive to water and heat, so a...
Short answer: August has three birthstones — peridot, the main modern stone, plus spinel and sardonyx. Peridot is the yellow-green gem most people mean, sardonyx is the older...
Short answer: June is one of only three months with three birthstones — pearl, alexandrite, and moonstone.
Short answer: December has three official birthstones — turquoise, zircon and tanzanite — and most jewelers add blue topaz as an easy-to-find fourth option. They all lean blue,...
Short answer: almost all of the solid-black onyx you see in jewelry is dyed gray chalcedony, and that is completely normal. Naturally solid-black onyx is genuinely rare, so...
Short answer: black onyx is one of the tougher stones you can wear every day, so you do not need to baby it — the one thing to...
Short answer: black onyx is a banded, deep-black variety of chalcedony that people have associated for thousands of years with grounding, protection, strength, and focus. Those meanings are...
