for May babies

Happy birthday May babies!  The green, lush qualities of spring are certainly represented by your birthstone, emerald.  These modern emerald earrings are very wearable with a hint of drama in the length.  I love the pin connection on these bezel set emeralds, the hand wrought look of the gold-filled wire connections, and the rich color and inclusions in these marquise shaped emeralds.

for April babies

Happy birthday April babies!!!!  Your birthstone is just incredible!  One could get lost in the sea of diamond jewelry available, so it was a hard choice to narrow down for this month's post.  But one of my favorite combos is diamond slices paired with faceted diamond accents... the best of both worlds!  These drop earrings are a beautiful example.

Outfit those drops with a pair of diamond slice ear crawlers and your earring game is a whole other level!

for March babies

Happy birthday March babies!  Let's all take a moment to collectively sigh over these AMAZING aquamarine earrings by Annoushka!  Not only are these aquamarines absolutely stunning, pairing them with apatite and blue tourmaline creates the perfect trifecta of beautiful blues.  The pave diamonds set this to a whole other level of glamorous-ness that I can only dream of one day achieving.  The price tag definitely reflects the quality of stones and materials, but it's fun to dream a little dream and admire this truly outrageous masterpiece of jewelry design.

for February babies

Happy birthday February babies!!!  Some might think that amethyst is such a blasé stone but these incredible Plukka amethyst earrings beg to differ!  The champagne diamond pavé drop is the perfect compliment to the outrageous purple hue and so-right irregular shape of these amethysts.

your month

Now that the holidays are over and the gifts have been given, I can show a few of the things I made this season.  My Initial Birthstone necklaces (top photo) for my daughter and nieces (ages 4 and 6) were a big hit.  They feature a hand stamped initial on a sterling silver disc that is oxidized with a brushed matte finish and tiny briolette birthstone strung on silk bead cord (in their favorite color) with a sterling silver clasp and extender chain (not shown).  The silk bead cord and dainty briolette make these perfectly age appropriate for the little ones and the extender chain allows their necklace to grow with them.

My Mama & Co. necklace (bottom photo) for my cousin Sarah, who is expecting, is one of my favorite gifts to give at baby showers (because mama deserves a gift too!) and features wire wrapped birthstones for mama and baby on a simple cable chain.  Also featured in this photo is my Just Because tags in my gift boxes.  This is something I designed when I first created my packaging when I started my business and I still use them to this day!

for January babies

Happy birthday January babies!  My best friend falls into this category and she has received some seriously nice garnet jewelry over the years.  The deep red of garnets pairs beautifully with a rich higher karat gold.  These stunning Cathy Waterman earrings feature domed garnets set in 22k gold.  I absolutely love the matte gold wheat leaf design... earthy and sophisticated.

for December babies

Happy birthday December babies!  I know you may have to share your birthday with a whole month of holidays, but at least you have a stunning birthstone to call your own.  Traditionally, blue topaz is a true bright baby blue, but if this were my birthstone (oh, I wish it was!) I would fully embrace the London Blue topaz.  I mean look at the color of these stunning earrings!  And the hexagon cut just puts these over the top.  So beautiful!

for November babies

Happy belated (second month in a row!) birthday to all November babies!  Things have been less than cheerful the last week or so, and it's been hard to focus on much else.  But jewelry can always cheer a girl up (at least definitely this girl!).  And who doesn't love a good Melissa Joy Manning piece?!  These stunning earrings, featuring rough cut citrine set in two simple gold bands, keeps all the focus on these beautiful stones.  The rough cut of the stones along with one of the most prominent characteristics of MJM's design aesthetic is all about capturing the one of a kind look.

for October babies

Happy birthday October babies!  Sorry if I am a little belated.  I've been doing these birthstone posts for two years now and I have no intention of stopping!  I am going to shift gears a little this year and not only focus on earrings but modern design.  (I feel like I have been giving antique jewelry an overwhelming share of the attention!)

October babies have the pleasure of having pink tourmaline as their birthstone.  The varying colors and shades of tourmaline are unmatched.  And these pink tourmaline slice earrings by Pamela Dale are a stunning example of tourmaline's wonderful shade of pink!  I have long been a fan of gemstone and diamond slices and their organic nature.  The addition of rose cut and brilliant cut diamonds and peach gold drips is just the icing on the cake!

for September babies

September is the hardest month to narrow down a birthstone selection (my love of sapphires runs deep!).  Throughout my various different searches this beauty kept popping up.  Nothing over-the-top extravagant but still stunning and incredibly wearable.  The filigree is just beautiful on this shield pendant, the pear shaped sapphire is picture perfect and the twinkling diamond accent at the top is just the icing on the cake!  Happy birthday September babies!

for August babies

Happy birthday August babies!  The birthstone for this month, Peridot, has a signature color that is easy to spot.  (I actually think it was one of the first gemstones I was able to identify when I was very young, also being my brother's birthstone.)  The peridot on this Art Nouveau beauty is the quintessential perfect shade of vivid chartreuse.  The emerald cut lends beautiful depth to this light colored gemstone.  And the swirls of gold and tiny diamonds compliment this stone nicely.  Such an enchanting piece!

for July babies

Happy birthday July babies (and happy birthday to me)!  Anyone who regularly reads this blog of mine knows I'm not the biggest fan of my birthstone, Ruby.  But over the last few years, I have started to grow fonder of this stone, especially in antique yellow gold pieces.  I absolutely adore this ruby pendant.  I love the double bail, the lily and scroll details, and how the princess cut ruby is positioned.  All in all a piece I would definitely wear to represent my birth month!

for June babies

Happy birthday June babies!  June babies get to boast about having 3 birthstones to choose from: alexandrite, moonstone and pearl.  As I was looking up options to feature of any of the three, I came across this INCREDIBLE Art Nouveau pearl pendant, and the decision made itself!  Here's the description from Christie's: "BY GEORGES FOUQUET - The fire opal drop, set within an opalescent and blue cloisonné enamel winged cap, to the blue cloisonné enamel and rose-cut diamond scrolled trim, enhanced by a pearl, suspended by a blue enamel bail, mounted in 18k gold, circa 1900."  There are literally no words to describe how I feel about this stunning masterpiece!

for May babies

Happy Birthday May babies!  You are so incredibly lucky to have the rich color of emerald as your birthstone.  For my highlighted piece of jewelry this month, I deviated slightly from what I usually select by showcasing an uncut emerald. I usually do prefer faceted gems but just look at that emerald!  Such a lush color even without facets to bring attention to the depth and dimension of the stone!  And the detailed setting pairs nicely with the organic shape of the emerald bead.

for April babies

Happy birthday April babies!  My daughter is an April baby, so lucky mommy gets to have a special connection to this birthstone as well!  This is always a tough month to narrow down to just one selection for my birthstone post, but this Art Deco pendant called out to me.  It combines many of my favorite design elements, including the pear shape of the pendant, the lily shaped bail, the ascending diamond sizes, and the beautiful filigree accents.  Just incredible!

for March babies

Oh you lucky March babies!  Every time I see an aquamarine I want to giggle like a little girl.  I am not sure what elicits this kind of reaction in me.  Maybe it's the enchanting color of this stone and it's pure perfection!  A perfect example is this 15 ct. stunner in a yellow gold milgrain setting with a decorative bail of sterling silver over gold with diamonds.  This pendant hangs so beautifully. And as beautiful as the diamond setting is it perfectly allows the aquamarine to take center stage.

for February babies

When I conjure an image in my head of an antique amethyst necklace, I envision a festoon necklace dripping with rows and swags of amethysts.  A stunning vision that I obviously appreciate but not one I would purchase and wear myself.  So when I started on my search for this month's birthstone necklace, I searched for simple and understated but quickly realized my vision of amethysts dripping from the neckline could not be squashed.  Then I stumbled upon this beauty! A piece I could certainly love and wear with just the right amount of "drippy-ness" and a perfect balance of statement and wearability.

for January babies

Happy birthday January babies!  Garnets are such a rich colorful stone and, in my mind, just perfect for the cold winter weather of January.  In my search, I stumbled across this circa late 3rd Century B.C. garnet necklace and was just blown away.  The style of this necklace is exquisite and very much wearable today.  I am so incredibly inspired by the stone settings.  (Click through the link to see the setting in more detail.) Such a remarkable piece of history.

for December babies

Happy Birthday December babies!  You may have to share your birthday with a very busy holiday month, but at least you have the beautiful birthstone, blue topaz, to adorn jewelry for your birthday or holiday gifts! Each of these stunning necklaces are for sale (from Etsy, Ruby Lane, and Nightingale Antiques).  Such a hard decision to make between the Art Deco lavalier, the Tricolored Gold Filigree necklace, and the Art Nouveau elongated pearl pendant!

for November babies

Wow, look at this stunning beauty!  No offense to citrine, but what stone wouldn't look stunning in this Victorian/ Art Nouveau setting?!  But citrine is beautiful in its own right, with its beautiful warm yellow glow so perfect for the fall month of November.  Colors range from lemon yellow (from which the stone derives its name) to reddish brown, my favorite being the shade featured above.