Birthstone Bracelets

Birthstone bracelets are not only beautiful gifts, they're thoughtful too. Giving someone a piece of jewelry with her birthstone shows that you were willing to make the extra effort to find something that was special for her. And, of course, the original concept of birthstones was that they brought luck to the wearer.

But what if that special someone for whom you're buying it (which could be yourself, of course!) doesn't like yellow topaz, but was born in November? No problem; there are alternative lists of birthstones. Most birthstone bracelets and other birthstone jewelry bought in the United States follow the list approved by American jewelers in 1912. In other countries, however, an older, more traditional list is used, dating back to the 1400s. On that list, November's birthstone is the citrine.

That still looks a lot like a yellow topaz, though, so you can take your search for birthstone bracelets a step or two further. An ancient Tibetan system, more than a thousand years old, suggests pearls for November, and the Ayurvedic Indian tradition calls for opal.

Birthstone Bracelets Are Appropriate for Any Occasion

A bracelet of her special stones makes a perfect gift for a graduate, a bride, or a bridesmaid. A new mother would be touched by a bracelet of her child's birthstone. Confirmations, bat mitzvahs and other rites of passage are also wonderful occasions to give a piece of heirloom jewelry to be treasured through the years.