Anniversary gifts in antique and vintage jewelry

The best known milestones are gold at fifty years, ruby at forty, sapphire at forty five and pearl at thirty, with diamond attached to both the tenth and the sixtieth depending on which list you follow. These lists vary by country and none of them is official, so treat them as a starting point rather than a rule.

If the stone list does not help, buy for the way it will be worn. A pair of gold hoops or a fine chain gets used every day for years. A large cocktail ring gets used for the occasions you both remember. Both are good answers, and they cost very different amounts.

Early anniversaries and later ones tend to call for different budgets, and there is nothing wrong with that. A first or fifth anniversary is well served by an everyday piece in the $250 to $2,500 range, while a milestone like a twenty fifth or fiftieth is when many buyers move into the fine and rare tier, from $2,500 up into the tens of thousands, for something meant to last as long as the marriage has.

If you want the full year by year list, including the years with no traditional stone at all and what we suggest instead, see our anniversary gifts by year guide, which covers every year from the first to the sixtieth.