Anniversary Gifts by Year: The Traditional List, the Modern List, and Which Roses Fit Each Year
By Eternal Rose editorial · Published · Updated
The traditional list assigns a material to each year — paper for the first, silver for the twenty-fifth, gold for the fiftieth — and a second, modern list codified in the twentieth century swaps in manufactured goods, but for a metal-rose catalog the two lists converge at exactly the years that matter. The Emily Post Institute's classic list gives china for the twentieth with platinum as its modern counterpart, sterling silver for the twenty-fifth on both lists, ruby for the fortieth, and gold for the fiftieth. That is why 125 of the 525 Love Is A Rose listings we track carry the word anniversary in the title, and why the ones naming a specific year cluster almost entirely on the 1st, 20th, 25th, 40th and 50th.
The two lists, side by side
There are two American lists and they disagree for the first twenty years, then agree from the twenty-fifth onward. The traditional list is the older, organic one, rooted in a Germanic practice of marking silver and gold milestones that dates to the 1500s. The year-by-year expansion is recent and commercial: the American National Retail Jeweler Association, now Jewelers of America, introduced the expanded list in 1937, filling in every year through the twentieth and every fifth year after that.
A gift-rose maker can only follow the list where the list names a metal, and it names one four times: platinum at 20, silver at 25, ruby red at 40 and gold at 50. That is exactly what the catalog does. Counting listings whose titles contain the phrase itself: 28 say '20th Anniversary', 36 say '25th Anniversary', 33 say '50th Anniversary', 2 say '1st Anniversary' and 1 says '40th Anniversary'. There is nothing for the 3rd, 7th or 12th, because there is no metal on the list at those years.
The decision rule is simple: if the year you are marking appears on the metal side of the list, buy the metal. If it does not, the 1st-anniversary pieces and the plain personalised roses are the ones designed to take any year you ask for.
The mapping the catalog uses is literal, and the listings say so in their own descriptions.
20th
Platinum. The 20th Anniversary Rose is described as an 11-inch real rose trimmed in platinum, with the numeral imprinted on the petal, at $139.95.
25th
Silver. The 25th Anniversary Rose is an 11-inch silver rose with the numeral imprinted on the petal, at $116.95.
40th
Ruby. The 40th Anniversary Rose is trimmed in gold, silver or platinum, but the listing itself recommends the 'ruby' red petal colour for this year. $116.95.
50th
Gold. The 50th Anniversary Rose is a real 11-inch 24k gold rose with the numeral imprinted on the petal, at $116.95.
Note what varies and what does not: the metal changes with the year, the 11-inch stem and the imprinted numeral do not. The platinum version costs about $23 more than the gold and silver ones, which is the only price difference the year itself makes at this tier.
The catalog's most literal idea is the year-count bouquet: the number of roses equals the number of years. The 20th Anniversary Bouquet is 20 roses trimmed in platinum at $1,279.95; the 25th is 25 roses preserved in silver at $1,599.95; the 50th is 50 gold-dipped roses at $3,599.95. That works out to roughly $64 to $72 a stem, which is the cheapest per-rose rate in the catalog — the single 11-inch gold-trimmed rose lists at $80.95.
If a bouquet is out of range, the same idea scales down. Pairs of roses in a heart vase or shadow box run roughly $170 to $340 depending on stem length (8, 11, 14 or 17 inches) and the display, and three-rose vase sets sit around $310 to $415.
Across the whole 525-item feed the median price is $149.95, and the anniversary items track that closely. The tiers are clean enough to plan around:
$35–$65 — accessories only. The Anniversary Heart Bud Vase is $44.95 and the Anniversary By Year Crystal Bud Vase, a 4 x 2 x 2 inch personalised crystal vase engraved with the couple's year that holds up to three 11-inch roses, is $62.95.
$116–$155 — one rose, personalised, sometimes with a vase or a case.
$170–$340 — two or three roses with a vase, museum case, shadow box or illuminated case.
$860–$3,600 — six-rose Tree of Life vases and the year-count bouquets.
Stem length matters less than you would expect at the middle tier. Across two-rose sets in the feed, the 8-inch median is $259.95 and the 11-inch median $269.95 — a $10 difference. The display is the real variable: a vase, a heart vase, a galaxy vase, a museum case, a shadow box and an illuminated case are what separate a $170 pair from a $340 one.
For a 20th, 25th or 50th where the couple already owns enough objects, the catalog's engraved family tree pieces are the alternative: 29 listings, running from a $59.95 silver-plate stand to a $179.95 gold family tree heart plaque, in silver finish for the 20th and 25th and gold for the 50th. Individual 1.5 inch engraved hearts — one per family member, with name and birthstone — are added separately at around $35 each.
These are the right pick when the anniversary is being marked by children or grandchildren rather than by the couple themselves, because the gift grows with the family rather than commemorating a single date.
Should I follow the traditional list or the modern one?
Either. They only disagree for the first twenty years, and from the 25th anniversary onward the Emily Post Institute lists the same material for both — silver at 25, ruby at 40, gold at 50, diamond at 60.
Why is platinum the 20th anniversary gift when the traditional gift is china?
China is the older, traditional material for the 20th; platinum is its counterpart on the modern list, which the Emily Post Institute publishes alongside the classic one. Platinum is a noble metal that resists oxidation and does not discolour at ordinary temperatures. A rose catalog can render platinum and cannot render china, which is why the 20th-anniversary roses here are platinum.
Which anniversary years does this catalog actually make specific gifts for?
By title count in the current feed: the 1st (2 listings), 20th (28), 25th (36), 40th (1) and 50th (33). Other years are covered by the plain personalised roses, which take any date or message you supply.
How much does a year-count bouquet cost per rose?
Between about $64 and $72 a stem — $1,279.95 for 20 platinum-trimmed roses, $1,599.95 for 25 silver, $3,599.95 for 50 gold-dipped. A single 11-inch gold-trimmed rose bought on its own is $80.95.
Is there a gift for a first anniversary, when the traditional material is paper?
The catalog has two 1st-anniversary listings, both gold-trimmed rose sets in a vase, at $179.95 and $309.95. Neither follows the paper tradition; they treat the first anniversary as a personalised-engraving occasion instead.
Editorial conclusions are drawn from the Love Is A Rose catalog data and the manufacturer documentation listed above; we do not claim to have used every product shown. Updated 2026-08-25. Corrections: contact us.
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