This month we’re starting something new. With the leaves beginning to fall, the end of Daylight Savings Time looming and the weather changes, it feels like the time is right. For October we’re publishing our first entry into a year-long series of blog posts all about the birthstones of each month of the year.
Yes, we’ll still be talking about high-quality cubic zirconia jewelry, celebrity engagements, famous jewelry collections, popular jewelers and the other subject areas you’re used to seeing around here on the regular. But each month we’ll dedicate one post to discussing that month’s gemstone or gemstones. Yes, some months have two stones, and October is one of them. So without further ado, let’s talk a little about opal and tourmaline for all of our October babies out there.
Opal
If you were born in October then you know the drill – diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearl steal all the limelight. But they’re not the only precious stones in existence! Opal is a beautiful gemstone that is considered to be precious.
The name “opal” comes to us from the Greek word “opallos,” which refers to a visible change in color of something. Considering that opals can vary from milky whites all the way to blacks containing flashes of greens, blues, yellows, reds and oranges, it’s an apt name for the gem. The beauty of the opal is derived from the contrast between its color play and background. Opals are made up of particles that are densely packed together in spherical arrangements. Those that assume a regular pattern give the opal a beautiful radiance thanks to a three-dimensional array of spaces.
The gems are formed in nature during the slow process of non-crystalline silica gel seeping into crevices in the earth’s sedimentary strata. After a long period of time has passed, natural molding and heating causes the gel to harden and form what we know as opals. The ideal opal features wide patterns containing all the colors of the rainbow spread across its entire surface.
It’s said that – because of it contained the colors of all other gems – in ancient times the opal was referred to as the “Queen of Gems.” Though the majority of commercially sold opals are white, red or black, discerning buyers can take their time and look for one that features the color or colors they’re most partial to.
The majority of opals are cut en cabochon, meaning that they have been shaped and polished rather than being faceted. This keeps them free of abrasions along their stark edges, maximizing the stone’s ability to show off its diverse array of colors when it catches the light.
Collectors of the gems place a heavy value on those that are free of matrixes or backings, meaning that they are on-piece opals. Harlequin patterns, like those that gave the gem its nickname in ancient times, are also prized and highly sought after. Every single opal in existence is guaranteed to be truly unique because of how the color palettes differ from one to another.
Tourmaline
Not content to let opal have October all to itself, Tourmaline is the month’s other mixed-color stone that serves as its birthstone. Tourmaline, which means “mixed stone,” delivers what its name promises. Peach-orange, hot magenta, canary yellow, cranberry red, forest green, violet, ocean blue and bubblegum pink are all colors that can show up in tourmaline stones.
They don’t necessarily show up one per stone, either. Tourmalines are another gem well-known for containing a number of colors per stone. Each gem usually has two or three colors in one of an almost endless variety of combinations. For instance, one particularly popular combination is called “Watermelon” because its amalgamation of pink, white and green colors come together to resemble the fruit’s coloring. Jewelers then take things a step further by cutting the colors into thin slices and giving the stone a pink center with a white ring and a green edge.
Speaking of cutting, a tourmaline’s elongated, prismatic crystals inform the cut that is made, which oftentimes leads to lengthy rectangular shapes. That being said, it’s possible to find the stones in a variety of different shapes and sizes.
Those tourmalines that feature the clearest distinctions between their colors are the most highly regarded. But, as with opals, their wide range of colors options means the gemstones can have many different looks that play to the unique tastes of many different individuals.
Brazil, Afghanistan, East Africa and the United States are a few of the most common locations where the gemstone is found.
Happy October Birthday
If October is your month, enjoy it and wear your beautiful tourmaline and opal jewelry proudly in celebration of everything that makes you who you are. And don’t forget to round out your collection of wonderfully accentuating jewelry with affordable, high-quality cubic zirconia from Birkat Elyon.