February Birthstone Rings

This article is part of our Birthstone Rings series, where we share the beautiful and varied ways our customers have featured birthstones in their rings.

February's birthstone — amethyst

February birthdays are celebrated with the incomparable regal purple of amethyst. When the commonly used descriptive words for your gem are all about royalty, you can't go wrong. Amethyst brings that wonderful combination of being both affordable and abundant while also having one of the most captivating, beloved colors.

Amethyst has very good wearability characteristics for a daily-wear ring. And, while its color is reliably vivid, there's actually a bit more variation available than most people realize. We'll share a few examples below that showcase amethyst in its varied shades of purple.

What can you do if you really don't like purple? Well, technically, February offers no other birthstone options. But amethyst is a variety of quartz, and there are plenty of other quartz colors. At a stretch, if you'd like to feature a February birthstone but really don't like purple, you might consider citrine, rose quartz, smoky quartz, or one of the other quartz varieties. But we're sticking with amethyst in the examples below.

Vivid Purple Amethyst

Let's start with a real classic amethyst color. This large, princess-cut amethyst shows off its vivid color beautifully, and is perfectly framed by its halo. The basket underneath the halo features vintage-inspired scroll detailing, and the shoulders include vines and leaves for a bit of nature. This customer told us that the first piece of jewelry her now-fiancé ever gave her featured an amethyst, so there was even more of a personal touch when they choose to use it in the engagement ring they designed.

Did we say regal? There's no other way to describe this bold, vintage-inspired ring. The details are wide open, so the ring doesn't feel heavy despite the its very large scale. And the long lines of bead detailing and diamonds create beautiful sparkle around the edges of this "old world look" (to use our customer's words). At the customer's request we sourced (90!) CanadaMark diamonds for this ring, which was important to the couple in terms of giving them assurances about the place and method by which the diamonds were mined. And, of course, the heart of the ring is a rich, purple amethyst.

This handful of inspiration examples should reassure you that amethyst looks perfect with any gold color. Setting this marquise cut amethyst in gold brings out the warmth of the center stone's color. And, with its saturated color, amethyst stands out against any surrounding color.

For this rose gold bridal set, we selected an even darker, more intense purple amethyst. It's deep color stands in stark contrast to the sparkling side stones, creating a perfect three-stone setting. And we designed the matching wedding band to frame and echo the marquise shape of the center stone, adding a floating half-halo of sparkle when they're worn together.

I'll let this customer describe the ring we designed together in her own words: "I wanted a mother’s ring to celebrate the birth of my baby girl, with her birthstone (amethyst) my birthstone (pink sapphire) and her father’s birthstone (garnet) all represented. In order to pay homage to my daughter’s name, River Rose, I wanted a rose petal setting along with vines and leaves, as well as some flowing water elements." In particular, she wanted an Amethyst with bits of red flash, which added a fun challenge for our gem specialists. We ended up re-cutting a stone with pretty color play to get the shape and size and color that was just right for her ring.

Rose de France Amethyst

What is a Rose de France Amethyst? It's an industry term for a distinctive shade of amethyst that's much closer to pink or lavender. A pale, blushing cousin of the more typical deep purple amethyst. To be honest, we're careful about using terms like "Rose de France" because everyone's expectations are a bit different and each stone is different. When you're looking for a less typical amethyst color, we prefer to talk about the shade and color with more nuance, to show you specific gems and make sure you're picking a gem that suits your ring perfectly. But it's the term most jewelers would use to describe amethysts like these, so we'll go with it.

For this ring, we sourced a very open, lilac-colored amethyst in an elongated cushion cut. It's framed by hearts and leaves in the band's ornamentation, with just a handful of moissanite accents to bring the sparkle.

We found the perfect lavender amethyst for this customer's ring, setting it in a glam halo. The ring features sweeping, twisting platinum bands with channels of diamond pave. But even with all that sparkle, we're betting this incredible amethyst will get tons of attention.