June

June is the rare month with a genuine mismatch: the traditional stone is pearl, but the 1912 Jewelers of America list added alexandrite as the modern alternative (moonstone gets an occasional mention too). Pearl is the only gemstone grown inside a living creature — a mollusk — and has stood for purity and innocence for centuries. Alexandrite is a color-changing chrysoberyl discovered in 1830s Russian emerald mines and named for Tsar Alexander II; it was added in 1912 partly because cultured pearls had just made the classic stone far less exclusive, so June got a rarer backup.

Both of June's flowers speak of affection: the rose for love in its most familiar form, and honeysuckle for devoted affection and the bonds that hold people together. Together they make June a month built almost entirely around the language of love.