Bright Blues

The month of December holds much to look forward to: holiday lights, delicious food, people in good spirits, cozy nights by the fireside, Starbucks holiday drink menu… the list goes on and on. Lucky for those born in this cheerful month, you also have two spectacular choices in birthstones: icy blue topaz and velvety tanzanite.

While traditional turquoise used to be the birthstone for December, it has recently been swapped for these two blue gems. We love the new stones, but how do you pick? Here are some tips.

Color

Blue topaz is a lighter, sky blue while tanzanite has a twilight purplish color. Both gems are vibrant and their color is striking against a silver or white gold setting. Gemvara also offers London blue topaz, which has a darker, more intense shade of blue for extra drama.

You’ll find that blue topaz jewelry complements almost everything in your wardrobe, from browns and grays to vivid tones. Tanzanite pairs well with an extensive palette also. Of course, tanzanite is an ideal complement to all the rich blues, purples, and greens in your wardrobe, but the velvety depths of this gem are also great with earth tones, from chocolates to rusts and golds.

Choose your favorite of the two or test which one looks better against your skin tone.

Price

While blue topaz used to be the rarest color of topaz, it is now the most common thanks to a stable color enhancement process. This makes blue topaz more affordable. On the other hand, tanzanite is extremely rare. It is mined in only one place in the world — a five-square mile area in Merelani, Tanzania near the feet of majestic Kilimanjaro. For this reason tanzanite is significantly more expensive than blue topaz.

Still having trouble? Choose both!

Because the two gems are in the same color family, they pair very nicely together. At Gemvara we make it easy for you to create designs using any gems you like, so have some fun and design a piece using both stones. A bit out of your price range? Enter your design in our What a Guy contest for a chance to win it! Your December dreams may come true!

Which shade of December blue are you?