<![CDATA[Gemstones associated with each month have changed frequently and one reason is that identification of gemstones has been often based on color instead of properties and classification.
In addition, birthstones have varied from country to country and as people became more interested in wearing birthstones, a lot of less expensive stones have been substituted for some of the rare and expensive gems. Strictly speaking - pearls are organic gems, not stones, but since most of the pearls on today's market are cultured pearls, it is an affordable substitute for an alexandrite.
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