Blue Topaz - December's Alternative Birthstone

Ella Golden Eskridge
Dec 3, 2025
1 min read

In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association officially added blue topaz to the list of modern birthstones for December as an alternative. Before then, blue topaz was not an officially designated birthstone, though it was often assigned to December as an alaternate due to its its popularity, reasonable cost, easy availability and sky blue color which is similar to the originally designated birthstones of turquoise and blue zircon

Natural topaz very rarely occurs in blue - this color is caused by treatment. Almost 100% of blue topaz in the market is colorless topaz that has been irradiated and heated to create its beautiful blue color. This treatment results in three commonly seen shades; light aquamarine "sky" blue, medium light to vivid "Swiss" blue and medium to deep ocean "London" blue topaz. Blue topaz can look similar to blue zircon, but it is available in a much wider variety of shapes and sizes at affordable prices. This quality makes blue topaz extremely popular and the perfect choice as the Alternative December Birthstone!