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The original birthstones for March are aquamarine and bloodstone. There is another couple of gems some believe they are March stones: jasper and hematite.

Jasper is an opaque form of chalcedony, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color. Blue is rare. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. The primary sources of jasper are Russia, Egypt, Germany, Madagascar, Mexico, USA (Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Washington).

Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th-5th millennium BC. Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Hebrew, Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Latin. On Minoan Crete within present day Greece jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800 BC based upon archaeological recoveries at the palace of Knossos.

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Hematite is a mineral, colored black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish brown, or red. It is mined as the main ore of iron. While the forms of hematite vary, they all have a rust-red streak. Hematite is harder than pure iron, but much more brittle. Good specimens of hematite come from England, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, United States and Canada.

The red chalk winning of this mineral was one of the earliest in history of mankind. The powdery mineral was first used 164,000 years ago by the Pinnacle-Point man obviously for social differentiation. Hematite residues are also found in old graveyards from 80,000 years ago. Near Rydno in Poland and Lovas in Hungary, Paleolithic red chalk mines have been found that are from 5000 BC, belonging to the Linear Pottery culture at the Upper Rhine. Hematite's popularity in jewelry was at its highest in Europe during the Victorian era, and has since seen a strong resurgence in North America, especially in the western United States. It is also used in art such as intaglio engraved gems.