About Timeless Gemstones

Why this site exists

Most birthstone sites publish one chart and present it as fact. It usually is not fact. It is one convention among several, quietly picked over the others. The traditional zodiac list and the modern jewelry-trade zodiac list, for example, name a different stone for every one of the twelve signs. Neither is more real than the other. They are two separate systems from different eras, and most pages do not tell you which one you are looking at.

Timeless Gemstones exists to show that disagreement, not hide it. Specifically, every comparison table cites the system behind each column. It names the authority and the year the list was set or revised, so you can see where a claim comes from. However, where the sources are uncertain or contradict each other, the site says so. It does not pick a side to look tidy.

How the reference data works

The reference data follows the same rule. It covers Mohs hardness, chemical formula, crystal system and more. Sometimes a single figure would misrepresent a stone. For example, garnet is a mineral group, opal has no crystal structure and lapis lazuli is a rock. As a result, those entries say so and do not force a number that fails.

How we keep it honest

We update a page whenever a correction checks out against a real source. Each factual page lists its sources and the date we last checked them. We also say plainly when we do not know something, because a gap is better than a guess.

Where to start

The site covers zodiac birthstones, monthly birthstones and a growing catalog of gemstones. Additionally, a birthstone finder shows every system's answer for a given date side by side. If you are not sure where to begin, start at the zodiac birthstones hub or the gemstone reference.

Have a question, a correction, or a source we got wrong? See the contact page, because we want to know.