Birthstones

[pregcurious]

Can someone explain to me the origin of birthstones?

I am putting together a mixed stone pendant, inspired by TL's diamond ring and mariedtiger's diamond pendant made with FCDs. So far, I have a blue sapphire for myself (September) and a moonstone for my son (June). I am planning on buying a small emerald for my daughter (May), and a ruby for my husband (July). However, before I go by the emerald and ruby, I want to understand better what all this means.

 

[PieAreSquared]

I looked this up several times, I still like Wikipedia's explanation best:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthstone
So if Western birthstones truly originated with the Gregorian calendar (and that cute little poem), that puts them at 1582. The modern ones we use now, only date back to 1912, with the addition of Tanzanite in 2002 as an alternate December birthstone.

 

[PieAreSquared]

Oh, and I also have a June birthday like your son, which has been alternately: agate, alexandrite, moonstone, and pearl.

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks PieR^2!