Buying for someone else

Choosing a crystal or spiritual gift for someone else

Buying a stone for another person is harder than buying one for yourself, because the usual advice — pick the one you are drawn to — is no help at all. A birthday gives you two reliable routes in: their birth month, and their star sign.

Birthstones and zodiac stones are not the same thing

The birthstone list is a modern retail standard, largely fixed in 1912 and tweaked since — garnet for January, amethyst for February, and so on down the year. Zodiac stones are older, follow the sun signs rather than the calendar months, and do not line up with the birthstones, because a sign straddles two months. Either is a good reason for a gift. The birthstone is the safer choice if you are not certain they follow astrology; the zodiac stone is the better one if you know they do.

When you do not know the birthday

Choose by what they are like instead. Something steady and lasting for the practical friend; something soft for the one having a hard year; something bright and a bit odd for the person who collects. That is what the vibe tab above is for, and it tends to produce better gifts than a date does — a gift that says you were paying attention beats a gift that says you looked up their month.

Presentation matters more than size

A small stone in a box reads as a present. A large one in a padded envelope reads as an order. Tumbled stones, a candle, or a stone with a card explaining what it is for all land better than a single expensive piece with no context, particularly for someone new to this. Every recommendation here is in stock and dispatched from the UK.