The opal is often considered to be the most beautiful and desirable of all gems because it is highlighted with all the colors of the rainbow.
According to legend, the wearer of an opal will be urbane and courteous and protected from the wrath of others. The stone was also reputed to make its owner invisible to foes and thereby exempt from misfortune. Opals were supposed to drive away despondency and evil thoughts, cure kidney diseases and cholera, soothe the eyes and nerves and protect against lightning. It was believed to make wishes come true and was particularly favorable to children, the theater, amusements, friendships and emotions. it is the gem of inspiration in the arts and in love.
The opal was regarded as a means to clairvoyance, one far more effective than the traditional crystal ball.
The word opal is derived from the Latin opulus and the sanskrit upala, meaning "precious stone" and was one of those in the breastplate of Aaron. It was the lucky stone of the Romans who called it cupid paederos, which meant "child beautiful as love," and who revered it as the symbol of hope and purity.
Pliny described the opal as possessing "the fire of the carbuncle, the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea-green color of the emerald, all shining together in incredible union." The Arabs believed that opals fell from heaven in flashes of lightning and thus acquired their colors. In ancient Greece opals were supposed to confer foresight and prophecy on their owners.
Black opal has been regarded as an exceptionally lucky stone and in early times was made artificially by dipping light-colored stones into ink or by allowing burned oil to enter cracks produced by heating.
Blondes are supposed to have a special fondness for opal necklaces which were believed to guard the color of their hair!
Opals have been worn by many well-known figures. Queen Victoria was especially proud of her opal collection and gave a magnificent opal to each of her five daughters as mementos. Sarah Bernhardt, the famous French actress, whose birthstone was the opal, never considered herself well-dressed without her opal jewelry. This added enormously to it popularity. The Roman senator Nonius chose exile rather than sell his beloved opal ring to Mark Antony' the ring was found in Nonius' tomb.
As the birthstone for October, the opal stands for hope.
Although tourmaline, the alternate birthstone for October, was probably known to the ancients and must have been present in many of the Oriental mines yielding precious stones, there are no definitive descriptions of the gem by early writers.
During the seventeenth century, dark green tourmaline crystals shipped to Europe from Brazil were called Brazilian emeralds and incorrectly credited with a hardness greater than that of true emeralds. However, early in the eighteenth century it was discovered that these crystals had a unique property. One warm summer day, while some Dutch children were playing with stones that had been brought home by navigators, they were amazed to see that the stones attracted small bits of ash and pieces of paper. The children's parents, summoned to view the phenomenon, were astounded at the magnetic properties of these stones, which were later given the name, aschentrckers, meaning "ash drawers."
The word tourmaline however is derived from the ancient Singhalese word tormall, meaning "mixed precious stones." The tourmaline is a complex silicate combined with various metallic elements; since each contributes a different color, the observer is often confused into believing the gem is a ruby, emerald or sapphire.
The most valuable variety of tourmaline is red to purplish-red to violet-red. it comes in an infinite variety of hues and tones. Most common are green and light red tourmalines, but others are dual-colored stones in blue, yellow and pink, brown and black. Some stones show several colors; they may be one color at the base, another at the center and a third near the apex. In others, the interior portion will be one color and the peripheral zone another. When the central portion is pink and the periphery green, the resulting combination is called a "watermelon" tourmaline. Cat's-eye tourmalines also are found in a variety of colors.
Brazil is still the most important source of tourmaline, but recently California has become a significant producer. Other sources include Madagascar, Maine, Sri Lanka, Burma and Russia.
Tourmaline may be cut into any style, including step, brilliant, mixed and cabochon. It is often carved into flowers, leaves and similar forms and set in jewelry with diamonds and other colored stones. Opal October Birthstone.
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