Anniversary Gifts by Year
Anniversary gifts by year sound like they should follow one tidy rulebook, and they don't — there are actually three different lists doing the rounds, which is why one website tells you the 30th is pearl and another swears it's diamond. Both are right. This guide untangles which list is which, gives you the honest year-by-year answer, and tells you where a jeweller can actually help — because plenty of these years, from cotton to willow, have nothing to do with what we sell.
We've built it the way we'd explain it across the counter at our anniversary gift guide: the quick-reference table first, then the years that are genuinely jewellery-relevant — 10th, 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th and 60th — with what's actually on our shelves against each one.
1 | Traditional vs modern — and what to actually buy for a 1st wedding anniversary
There's no single body that owns the anniversary gift list, which is why UK gift sites quietly disagree with each other. In practice there are three traditions layered on top of one another:
The three lists, in plain English
- The traditional list. The old Victorian-era English list — paper, cotton, leather, wood, all the way to gold and diamond. The oldest and most widely recognised.
- The modern retail list. Drawn up by the American jewellers' trade body in 1937 and updated since, it swaps some materials for more giftable categories — clocks, china, and specific jewellery types at the milestone years.
- The jewellers' gemstone list. A separate trade tradition that assigns a gemstone to nearly every year, including the "off" years the other two lists ignore. Useful for browsing, but it's its own thing — not an official add-on to the other two.
Which brings us to the 1st wedding anniversary gift: traditionally paper, on the modern list a clock. Neither is jewellery, and we won't pretend a "paper" product exists on our shelves just to make a sale. What couples actually do at year one, sensibly, is start what becomes a habit — a first proper piece, often a necklace or a pair of earrings, that gets added to over the following anniversaries rather than a literal reading of "paper" or "clock". Nobody's marriage was saved by a clock.
2 | Anniversary gifts by year: the full 1–60 table
Here's the full year-by-year list, traditional and modern side by side. Where a year has a widely agreed gemstone attached to it in jewellery-trade circles, we've added it in the last column — where it's blank, there's genuine disagreement between sources, so we haven't invented a definitive answer.
| Year | Traditional | Modern | Gemstone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paper | Clock | – |
| 2 | Cotton | China | – |
| 3 | Leather | Crystal / glass | – |
| 4 | Fruit or flowers | Linen / silk / appliances | – |
| 5 | Wood | Silverware | – |
| 6 | Iron (sugar on some UK lists) | Wood | – |
| 7 | Wool or copper | Desk sets | – |
| 8 | Bronze or pottery | Linen / lace | – |
| 9 | Pottery or willow | Leather | – |
| 10 | Tin or aluminium | Diamond jewellery | Diamond |
| 11 | Steel | Fashion jewellery | – |
| 12 | Silk or linen | Pearls | Pearl |
| 13 | Lace | Textiles / furs | – |
| 14 | Ivory (symbolic) | Gold jewellery | Gold |
| 15 | Crystal | Watches | – |
| 16 | Wax | Silver hollowware | – |
| 17 | Furniture | Watches | – |
| 18 | Porcelain | Appliances | – |
| 19 | Bronze | Jewellery | – |
| 20 | China | Platinum | Platinum |
| 21 | Brass or nickel | Brass | – |
| 22 | Copper | Copper | – |
| 23 | Silver plate | Silver plate | – |
| 24 | Opal | Musical instruments | Opal |
| 25 | Silver — "Silver Wedding" | Silver | |
| 26 | Pictures / original artwork | — | – |
| 27 | Sculpture | — | – |
| 28 | Orchids | — | – |
| 29 | Furniture | — | – |
| 30 | Pearl — "Pearl Wedding" | Diamond | Pearl / Diamond |
| 31–34 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 35 | Coral | Jade | Coral / Jade |
| 36–39 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 40 | Ruby — "Ruby Wedding" | Ruby | |
| 41–44 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 45 | Sapphire — "Sapphire Wedding" | Sapphire | |
| 46–49 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 50 | Gold — "Golden Wedding" | Gold | |
| 51–54 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 55 | Emerald — "Emerald Wedding" | Emerald | |
| 56–59 | Minor, rarely marked | – | |
| 60 | Diamond — "Diamond Wedding" | Diamond | |
Beyond 60, milestones thin out fast — 70th is Platinum, and few sources agree on anything after that, simply because few couples get there. We've focused this guide on the years that are both jewellery-relevant and consistent across UK sources: 10th, 25th, 30th, 40th, 45th, 50th, 55th and 60th.
One more honest note: the gemstone column is its own separate tradition, not a hidden layer of the paper-and-cotton list. Some jewellers will tell you year 5 is sapphire or year 6 is amethyst — that's this third list talking, and we won't blur the two into one "fact" to sell you a stone you weren't expecting.
3 | 10th wedding anniversary gifts — tin, aluminium and diamond jewellery
The traditional 10th anniversary gift is tin or aluminium — not exactly romantic, which is why the modern list moved it to diamond jewellery instead, and that's the version couples actually buy for. A decade together is a genuine milestone, and it's the first year on the list where "get them jewellery" is the straightforwardly correct answer rather than a modern workaround.
We carry a genuine but selective range at this level — real diamond pieces alongside Diamonfire diamond-simulant jewellery, which we'll always tell you plainly is a simulant, not a diamond, because the difference matters and the price difference is the whole point of buying it.
Ten years in
Diamond and diamond-simulant pieces, worth a proper look before you commit to a budget.
Shop necklaces →4 | 25th wedding anniversary gifts — Silver Wedding
The 25th is where every list agrees: silver, no argument, no modern alternative muddying the water. It's called the Silver Wedding for a reason people still use in everyday conversation, and it happens to be the anniversary year where a jeweller is genuinely the best possible shop, not just a convenient one.
This is our deepest range, full stop — hundreds of silver pieces in stock across necklaces, earrings and bracelets, from everyday-wearable pieces through to something with more presence for the day itself. If you're buying for a 25th and you're not sure what to choose, silver is the one year where you genuinely can't get the metal wrong.
25 years — silver, properly done
Our widest range by a distance, and the one anniversary gift we'll never talk you out of.
Shop silver necklaces →5 | 30th wedding anniversary gifts — Pearl Wedding
Thirty years is the "Pearl Wedding" on the traditional list, though the modern retail list swaps it for diamond — we'd always ask which one a couple actually goes by before assuming. Pearl has the better claim to the name and, in our shop, the better range behind it: a strong, well-stocked collection built up over years, not a token shelf.
Pearl also ages well as a 30th-anniversary gift in a way some trend pieces don't — it was classic thirty years ago and it's classic now, which is rather the point of a Pearl Wedding gift in the first place.
6 | 40th wedding anniversary gifts — Ruby Wedding
We'll be straight: ruby is the one milestone we're usually thin on — here's what works instead. Genuine ruby jewellery is a specialist, expensive category, and we can't promise real ruby stock at every price point walking in today.
What we'd point a Ruby Wedding shopper toward instead: red and deep-crimson crystal pieces from Swarovski, which capture the colour story of the 40th without pretending to be something they're not — or a striking piece in a different stone entirely, if the gift matters more than the literal gemstone. We'd rather tell you honestly where our range is thin than dress up a substitute as the real thing.
Ruby colour, honestly sourced
Red crystal pieces that nod to the 40th without us pretending they're ruby.
Shop luxury gifts →7 | 50th wedding anniversary gifts — Golden Wedding
Fifty years is the Golden Wedding, gold on every version of the list, and one of the two or three biggest anniversary occasions couples and families mark. Solid gold jewellery beyond our Nomination range is something we keep selective rather than sprawling — Clogau's Welsh gold pieces are the heart of it, small in number but genuinely gold, not gold-tone. We'd rather have a short, honest gold range than a long one padded out with plated pieces pretending otherwise.
If gold-tone or gold-plated suits the budget better, that's a much bigger part of our range and nothing to apologise for — plenty of beautiful 50th-anniversary pieces aren't solid gold and don't need to be.
Fifty years — Welsh gold and beyond
A small, genuine gold range led by Clogau, plus gold-tone pieces for every budget.
Shop luxury gifts →8 | 60th wedding anniversary gifts — Diamond Wedding
Sixty years shares its name with the tenth — both are "diamond" occasions on the modern list — but the 60th is the one everyone means when they say Diamond Wedding, and it's a genuine rarity worth marking properly. Our diamond range includes real diamond pieces and Diamonfire diamond-simulant jewellery side by side, always labelled honestly as one or the other, so the choice is about budget, not being misled.
However you're marking the day, order online with next-day delivery, or choose free click & collect — ready within the hour from 41 Barrow Street, St Helens.
Sixty years — the real Diamond Wedding
Diamond and diamond-simulant pieces for the anniversary that genuinely earns the name.
Shop gifts for her →9 | Frequently Asked Questions
What is the traditional gift for a 1st wedding anniversary?
Paper, traditionally, or a clock on the modern retail list — neither is jewellery. Most couples treat year one as the start of a jewellery habit rather than buying either literally: a first necklace or pair of earrings that later anniversary gifts build on.
What is the 25th wedding anniversary called, and what's the gift?
It's called the Silver Wedding, and silver is the gift on every UK and US list, traditional and modern alike — there's no disagreement to hedge here. It's also the anniversary year where our range is widest, with hundreds of silver pieces in stock.
Is the traditional 30th wedding anniversary gift pearl or diamond?
Traditionally pearl — the 30th is the "Pearl Wedding". The modern 1937 retail list gives diamond instead, so both answers are correct depending on which list you're using; we'd always confirm which one a couple follows before assuming.
What stone is associated with a 40th wedding anniversary?
Ruby — the 40th is the "Ruby Wedding" on both the traditional and modern lists, symbolising the deep colour and resilience a marriage builds under 40 years of pressure. It's honestly one of the harder stones for us to stock at every price point, so we often point Ruby Wedding shoppers toward red crystal alternatives instead.
What is the 50th wedding anniversary gift, and do you sell solid gold?
Gold — the 50th is the Golden Wedding on every list. We do sell solid gold beyond our Nomination range, led by Clogau's Welsh gold, but we keep it a small, selective collection rather than claiming a large one; gold-tone and gold-plated pieces cover a much wider range of budgets.
Can it be returned or exchanged if it's not quite right?
Yes — unworn online purchases can be returned or exchanged within 14 days, and we issue the refund or exchange within 24 hours of receiving it. Over Christmas we extend the returns window for early gift-buyers — dates are announced on site each festive season. Earrings can't be returned for hygiene reasons.