What Is the Birthstone for February? Amethyst — the Month That Never Changed

February's birthstone is amethyst — the purple variety of quartz, at Mohs 7, wearing a color that runs from misty lilac to the deep violet the trade calls Siberian. And February holds a distinction nobody markets enough: it is the only month on the modern chart that has never changed. The list standardized in 1912 gave February amethyst; the 1952 revision added stones to June, October, November, and December and left February alone; the 2002 and 2016 updates did the same. Every month around it accumulated alternatives; February kept its one stone through eleven decades — which makes the question of what to buy a February birthday unusually simple.

Quick Answer: February birthstone facts, directly — |Question|Answer| |What is February's birthstone?|Amethyst — purple quartz, official since 1912, never changed| |What color?|Lilac to deep "Siberian" violet; deeper = rarer = dearer| |What does it mean?|Clear-headedness — Greek amethystos, "not drunk"| |Hardness for daily wear?|Mohs 7 — daily-wear safe| |Traditional February stone before amethyst?|Hyacinth (jacinth) — red-orange zircon, on the old lists| |Cleaning?|Warm soapy water, soft brush; ultrasonic usually fine, steam not| |Anniversary?|The 6th|

The color question deserves its own paragraph, because amethyst pricing runs on it. Commercial amethyst wears light-to-medium purple; the collectors' names mark the top — Siberian, a saturated violet-blue with red flashes, and Rose de France, a deliberate pale lilac at the fashionable end. Heat is the one treatment to know: much of the market's evenly-deep purple is heated amethyst (heat lightens some material and adjusts the tone of others; it cannot make a pale stone Siberian), and a certificate noting unheated color commands the premium. February buyers get an honest market: even the finest amethyst remains an affordable stone, which is why whole-carat February gifts exist at every budget — the stone's history explains why.

That history includes the one fact February guides never mention: the traditional February stone was not amethyst at all. The old lists — from the fifteenth century onward — carried hyacinth or jacinth, names for the red-orange variety of zircon, with pearl appearing on a few tables. Amethyst had been pushing hyacinth out informally for centuries before 1912 made it official; today a traditionalist buying February their historical stone would be shopping orange zircon, a conversation piece no one at the party will have predicted. The modern alternative worth knowing instead is ametrine — the purple-and-gold two-color quartz that comes essentially from one Bolivian mine — a distinctive February-adjacent choice for someone whose purple should come with a twist.

Buying for a February birthday runs on two calendars. The birthday itself: amethyst suits every format — generous pendants because big clean stones are affordable, studs for daily wear, birthstone rings that survive real life at Mohs 7. The second calendar is Valentine's Day, which sits inside February and makes the month a double-gift month for couples: the classic move is amethyst paired with a partner stone — garnet for a January-February couple, or amethyst with ruby for a Valentine's statement — and our birthstone gifts by occasion guide maps the combinations. For the February baby who wants the full story of their stone — the Greek not-drunk legend, the bishops, the Russian royal collections — our amethyst meaning guide carries it; for telling a real one from glass, the identification guide; for keeping it purple, the cleaning guide — the short version being gentle soap, soft brush, and out of long sun.