So I’ve always been fascinated by gemstones… And while my beliefs do not assign any magical or spiritual powers to them, I am interested in the various kinds of cultural symbolism they can have

so it interests me how there are a few different systems assigning birthstones to months. For instance the birthstone for June, depending on the system, is either pearl or alexandrite.

It was several years ago that I decided I like alexandrite better for that. It’s an actual stone, not an oyster byproduct like pearls (although there is a whole different coolness in something renewable and life-created being used as a gemstone!) And alexandrite is extremely rare in nature, to the point where it can actually be more difficult and expensive to find gem-quality stones than it is with other minerals that are more known for rarity and value, like diamonds, emeralds or rubies.

Supply and demand and economies of scale also play into this– the rarity and cost of alexandrite is partly because there isn’t a huge industry devoted to mining and distributing it. In fact, similar economies of scale are at play even if you’re just trying to buy a lab-created stone, created by alchemists scientists and physically identical to mined stones (which is usually my own preference!) Even the lab-grown ones are expensive as hell.

But anyway. Biggest part of why I love alexandrite is its own physical properties. It’s very strong, more resistant to cracking than diamond, and nearly as resistant to scratching (sapphire beats it on both counts but not by much). And best of all… it changes color in different lighting!

The best stones go all the way from blue-green to purple when you take them from a sunlit window to a room lit with lightbulbs. It’s more noticeable in incandescent lighting, but there are fluorescent and LED bulbs that show it pretty well too.

Apparently back when most indoor light was from candles and fireplaces, it was an especially striking change, and the stone was sometimes described as “emerald by day, ruby by night.”

Which is a description that seems weird in modern context, since rubies aren’t usually anywhere near purple, and emeralds aren’t usually anywhere near that bluish-green shade– but you gotta account for both differences in lighting and differences in how language used to categorize colors, over the years.

Since getting into Tron– and embracing my inner pattern recognizer that loves to find connections– I’ve gained an additional fondness for alexandrite because that change to purple is so reminiscent of circuit color changes in The Deleted Scene. (Plus a side connection to the color-change effect of butterfly peaflower tea… another blue-green-to-purple shifting ingredient that you just know Zuse had behind the counter at the End of Line club for those extra special drinks.)

Until just recently, I’d assumed that alexandrite was chosen as a June birthstone because the color change was reminiscent of other themes of change and duality that tend to be associated with the month of June. The Gemini twins, etc… perhaps a connection inspired by it being a time of change, the springtime shift in the seasons?

But just now I realized the other connection.

June is right between May (emerald birthstone) and July (ruby birthstone)! It’s a rainbow bridge (ruby bridge?) between the two – almost literally emerald in the morning and ruby by night!

Yay connections.