Ruby — The July Birthstone
Ruby — The July Birthstone
Codified by the American National Retail Jewellers Association in 1912, with roots in ancient lapidary tradition
Ruby is the modern birthstone for July, designated by the American National Retail Jewellers Association in its 1912 codification of the modern birthstone list and adopted internationally in the decades since. The association of ruby with the July position has older roots than the 1912 list, appearing in early Hebrew and Arabic birthstone traditions and in medieval European lapidaries. Modern trade organisations including AGTA, GIA, and the Jewellers of America recognise ruby as the standard July birthstone, alongside ruby's role as the traditional gemstone for the 15th and 40th wedding anniversaries.
Origin of the modern list
The modern birthstone list emerged from a 1912 effort by the National Retail Jewelers Association of America (later Jewelers of America) to standardise birthstone-by-month assignments that had varied across regional traditions. The 1912 list was revised modestly in subsequent decades — notably the addition of citrine to the November position alongside topaz, and the addition of tanzanite alongside zircon and turquoise for December — but the July assignment of ruby has remained constant.
Earlier traditions, including the gemstones of the breastplate of Aaron described in Exodus and the Arabic and Hindu birthstone systems, generally associate red stones with summer months and with positions of solar prominence. Ruby's chromium-driven red colour and historical association with vitality, passion, and authority sit naturally in this conceptual frame.
In the trade
For retail jewellers, the July birthstone designation drives meaningful demand for ruby in the months leading up to and through July, with rings, pendants, and earrings in pink-to-red corundum (and increasingly red spinel and rubellite tourmaline as alternatives) seeing seasonal lift. Heated commercial-quality ruby in the half-carat to two-carat range is the volume product; fine unheated stones with origin reports remain a special-order or estate-trade category at any time of year.
Ruby is also the traditional gemstone for the 15th and 40th wedding anniversaries, which extends the birthstone-driven demand into anniversary gifting throughout the year.