When it comes to gifting, jewellery might be one of the most sincere and elegant gifts to give your friends and beloved ones. However, the more personalised the gift is, the more touching and worthy it becomes. When you gift your close friends something that says a lot about their personalities, likes, interests, it surely will touch their hearts.

The most popular personalised jewellery gift is adding the birthstone of the person you want to give the gift to, a fine piece of jewellery. Many gold necklaces will have a pendant with garnet, for example, that will act excellent fit for January people.

Using birthstones has recently gained popularity and has been used in wedding rings. The bride's birthstone will be the stone used in the ring, making it more associated with the bride and giving a deeper meaning.

So what are the birthstones? From where they have originated? Do they have any symbolism rather than being precious stones?

Birthstones are as old as biblical times. They are 12 gemstones that, around the 8th or 9th centuries, started to be associated with the 12 months of the year. However, it was only centuries later that people started to use them in jewellery and wear them according to their birth month.

Each month has a stone that is associated with it. The original birthstone month list has changed over time, and the reason is purely for jewellery purposes. For example, June had only pearl as the birthstone; right now is alexandrite as well due to being not possible to use pearls on all designs and types of jewellery. Also, this list may differ from one region or country to another.

Birthstones don’t only associate with each month, but also they symbolise certain personality traits or specific meanings. For example, Garnet is the January birthstone, representing constancy & healing. Amethyst is February’s birthstone, and its symbol is sincerity. March’s birthstone is Aquamarine, and it represents courage, whereas diamond is April’s birthstone, symbolising innocence. May’s birthstone is emerald which refers to success; June’s birthstones are pearl, alexandrite and moonstone, representing longevity and health. Ruby is the birthstone of July that represents contentment, and the peridot stone symbolises marital happiness, and it is associated with August. September’s sapphire symbolises clear thinking, while October’s stones (Tourmaline or Opal) are symbols of hope. Also, November has two birthstones (Topaz or Citrine), symbolising fidelity; lastly, Tanzanite, Zircon or Turquoise are December’s birthstones and represent prosperity.

Many believe that birthstones are good to have as they add their charms to the wearer. Whether true or not, birthstones are gemstones with brilliant colours and are definitely nice to have in a bracelet or a ring.