Chapter Three: Your Birthstone's Story

Chapter Three — in which every month gets its own sparkle.

Did you know you were born with a gemstone waiting for you? Every month of the year has its own birthstone, a tradition thousands of years old that some historians trace all the way back to a jewelled breastplate with twelve stones — one for each month.

A few favourites:

• January — Garnet: deep red, said to protect travellers.
• April — Diamond: the hardest natural thing on Earth. Nothing can scratch it except another diamond.
• July — Ruby: ancient warriors believed it made them brave.
• September — Sapphire: royal blue — literally. Kings and queens wore it for wisdom.
• October — Opal: holds a rainbow inside; no two opals are ever the same.
• December — Turquoise: one of the first gems humans ever mined, over 6,000 years ago.

Your birthstone is like a tiny piece of the month you arrived in the world — your very first chapter, written in stone. 💎