Anniversary Jewellery by Year

Updated 5 October 2026·Written by the Aqua Gold workshop, Ontario.

The traditional anniversary gift list runs from paper at the first year to platinum at the seventieth, and the modern list sitting alongside it was introduced in 1937 specifically to give each year something more giftable. Diamond appears at the tenth anniversary on both lists. Silver appears at the twenty-fifth on every version we checked, and that is the one year our 925 sterling silver pieces match the tradition in substance, not just in look.

Where does the anniversary gift list actually come from?

The material-based list — paper, cotton, leather and onward — comes out of English and American wedding etiquette from the late nineteenth century. It covered roughly the first fifteen years individually, then moved to five-year jumps toward milestones like silver and gold.

That list was never built to be gifted easily. The modern anniversary gift list was introduced in 1937 by what is now Jewelers of America, specifically to give each year something more giftable than the original materials. Cotton at the second year became china; wool at the seventh became a desk set. Both lists are still published side by side, and most retailers quote the modern one.

The traditional and modern gift, year by year

Here are both lists together, for the years people usually ask about. Where our sources gave two traditional materials for the same year, we kept both rather than picking one.

Past the twentieth year, both lists move to five-year intervals. The traditional list keeps going past fifty — coral at thirty-five, sapphire at forty-five, emerald at fifty-five, diamond again at sixty, platinum at seventy — but the modern equivalents for those later years are quoted far less consistently, so we have left them out rather than state something we could not check twice.

Is there a gemstone for each year too?

Yes, a third list pairs a specific gemstone with each year instead of a material, and this is the one most jewellery sites present as settled fact. It is not.

The Gemological Institute of America's own published version disagrees with other major published versions on at least two of the first ten years — onyx against yellow sapphire at the seventh, lapis lazuli against morganite at the ninth. There is no single authoritative gemstone-by-year list, and even GIA says so outright, stating plainly that the gemstone assignments come from varied tradition rather than one fixed source. Where the major sources agree, we trust it: gold at the first year, garnet at the second, pearl at the third, blue topaz at the fourth, sapphire at the fifth, amethyst at the sixth, tourmaline at the eighth, diamond at the tenth, emerald at the twentieth, silver at the twenty-fifth.

Which years actually call for a clear stone?

Diamond turns up three separate times across the lists above: at the tenth on both the material list and the gemstone list, and by most published versions again at the thirtieth and the sixtieth. Diamond appears at the tenth anniversary on both the traditional gemstone tradition and the modern material list, which makes it the strongest point of agreement across either list.

Moissanite is not diamond. It is silicon carbide, a distinct mineral with its own hardness and brilliance, and we are not going to blur that to sell a ring. What it offers at a diamond-tradition year is the same round, faceted, clear-stone look the tradition is pointing at, in a different material and at a different price point. If you are weighing moissanite for a ring more broadly, not just for an anniversary, we have covered whether moissanite is worth it for an engagement ring separately.

For a tenth anniversary specifically, that can be modest or substantial. Stud earrings hold a single stone each, in widths from 3 mm up to 8 mm. A tennis bracelet runs a continuous line of stones down the wrist, in three stone sizes and five lengths. A full eternity band carries stones the entire way round the finger, in three stone sizes and seven ring sizes. All three answer the same tradition; which one fits is a question of how much stone someone wants, not which is more correct.

Why the twenty-fifth anniversary is different

The twenty-fifth anniversary is silver on every version of the list we checked, and it is the one year our 925 sterling silver pieces match the tradition in substance, not just appearance. The eternity band, the tennis bracelet, the stud earrings and the rest of the range are built on 925 sterling silver under their rhodium plating — the metal itself, not a coating standing in for it.

If the gift is a ring and it has to be a surprise, size it before you buy. We wrote a separate guide on how to find her ring size without asking, which matters more for a full eternity band than for most rings, since the band has to sit right the whole way round rather than just at the top.

Where our catalogue honestly does not fit

We would rather say this than let a product page overreach. Garnet at the second anniversary, sapphire at the fifth, ruby at the fifteenth and fortieth, emerald at the twentieth — we do not carry coloured gemstones, so none of those years have a genuine match here.

The same applies to gold. Several years on both lists call for gold outright — gold jewellery at the first, fourteenth and fiftieth. Our gold-finished pieces are gold-plated sterling silver or gold-plated stainless steel: gold in colour, not gold in composition, and we will not let a gold-plated pendant stand in for what that tradition means. The twenty-fifth, and the clear-stone years at the tenth, thirtieth and sixtieth, are where this catalogue genuinely applies. The rest is a reason to look elsewhere, and we would rather tell you that now than have you find out after the gift is wrapped.

If this is not her first piece

Some of these years come around for people who already own moissanite. A marquise-cut ring reads differently from a round stone and works well as a second ring rather than a replacement for a first one. A floating solitaire necklace sits under a collar and layers under other pieces instead of competing with them. A cross pendant is a different kind of piece entirely — a specific symbol rather than a stand-in for a tradition — and worth choosing on its own terms rather than forced into a year it does not represent.

Honest picks from our catalogue, by year

Matched to the years above, not stretched to cover the rest of the list:

• Moissanite eternity band10th, 25th, 30th or 60th — silver and clear-stone years
• Moissanite stud earringsa modest diamond-year gift, five widths
• Moissanite tennis braceleta fuller diamond-year gift, three stone sizes
• Marquise-cut moissanite ringa second ring, not a first-piece replacement
• Floating solitaire necklaceunderstated, layers under other pieces
• Moissanite cross pendanta symbol, not an anniversary stand-in
• Moissanite Miami cuban link braceletheavier, for a milestone rather than a first gift

Browse the rest by category — rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces — or start with our best sellers, which is where most people begin.

Common questions

More questions

We answer shipping, returns, sizing and payment questions on our FAQ page. If something is not covered there, get in touch and someone from the workshop will answer.

References

The traditional and modern material lists here follow the version documented in Wikipedia's wedding anniversary entry, cross-checked against an independently published traditional-and-modern comparison chart; both credit the expanded modern list to the 1937 American National Retail Jewelers Association, now Jewelers of America. The gemstone-by-year figures are cross-checked between GIA's published list and the International Gem Society's published list; where the two disagreed, we said so rather than silently picking one. Composition details for our own pieces — 925 sterling silver, rhodium or gold plating, available stone sizes — come from our own product specifications.