For the lover of jewelry and color, a keepsake birthstone ornament is a truly apt gift.  Birthdays and birthstones are very important to some of us, and remembering the day we began our lives in this world is a way to remember everything that’s happened since.  Whether you’re giving as baby’s first Christmas, for a lover of birthstones, or as a very belated first Christmas gift, you’ll trigger fond memories and start new traditions by giving a Birthstone Christmas Ornament.

Birthstones signify many things, from the spirit of the January child to the colors of springtime.  There are several ways that birthstones are organized or classified.  First, there are precious and semi-precious birthstones.  This distinction was made long ago to allow gift giving on any budget, and to allow for fluctuations in the mining of certain precious stones.  For instance, April’s birthstone is diamond – it would be very expensive (and perhaps misleading!) to give a diamond gift.  An alternative April birthstone is garnet, which is much more affordable and does not carry the loaded cultural meaning of a diamond.  Another example is October, which has the precious birthstone of opal.  Opal is a subtle stone, and something of an acquired taste, so based on other October traditions and myths, a pink tourmaline or zircon was selected as a secondary birthstone as something that might appeal to a wider section of jewelry wearers.

Other ways that birthstones are classified is based on ancient traditions from different parts of the world.  Our American birthstone chart is based on an amalgamation of these traditions, but mostly on stones associated with astrological star signs.  Other ways to assign birthstones to months is by the stone’s ayurvedic or healing properties, its Hindu associations with various gods, or by the month’s planetary alignments rather than the zodiac.  Online you can find birthstone charts for all of these traditions, and select a stone based on what is important to your birthstone lover.

Ornamentshop.com has a selection of twelve birthstone ornaments.  The ornaments are painted glass balls in the luminous color of the stone for each month.  You can choose by month, or you can choose the color that most closely represents the stone you would like to represent.  Each ornament is hand painted with the recipient’s birth date and name, and the colors are so dazzling you’ll want to leave them out all year. (We’ve got an ornament stand for that!)