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Birthstone Guides
Each month's birthstone: its color, meaning, history and the pieces that wear it best.
Birthstone Guides
How to Choose a Birthstone Necklace
Length decides where a birthstone sits, so choosing a birthstone necklace starts with the chain. This guide charts every standard length from 14 to 24 inches, explains how to tell a complete necklace from a pendant...
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Birthstone Guides
Opal Buying Guide: Types, Colors & How to Choose
How to choose an opal: read its play-of-color and body tone, tell natural from lab-created, imitation and assembled stones, compare white, black, boulder, fire and Ethiopian opal, and pick jewelry and settings that suit a stone rated 5 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale.
Birthstone Guides
How to Choose a Birthstone Ring
A ring takes more knocks than any other jewelry, so choosing a birthstone ring starts with how hard the stone is. This guide lists the Mohs hardness of every birthstone, explains prong, bezel and halo settings, compares 10K and 14K gold with sterling silver, and covers lab-created stones, sizing and stacking.
Birthstone Guides
December Birthstone: Blue Topaz, Tanzanite and Turquoise Guide
December's birthstones share a color and little else. Blue topaz is hard and glassy, tanzanite comes from a single source in Tanzania and shifts between blue and violet, and turquoise is the opaque, porous traditional stone. Compare all three on hardness, treatments, settings and care, with a facts table and seven answered questions.
Birthstone Guides
November Birthstone: Citrine and Topaz Guide
November is the month most often shopped by the wrong name. Citrine and topaz overlap in color but are different minerals that wear differently. Compare both on color, hardness, cleavage, settings, treatment and care, with a full facts table and seven answered questions.
Birthstone Guides
October Birthstone: Opal and Tourmaline Guide
October is the only month whose two birthstones could hardly look less alike. Compare opal and pink tourmaline on color, hardness, settings and care, then choose the one that suits how the jewelry will be worn.