October Birthstone: Opal and Tourmaline
If your birthday falls in October then you are certainly spoiled for choice when it comes to selecting your birthstone. The two choices are opal and tourmaline both of these gems are truly kaleidoscopic!
OPULENT OPAL
Opal is one of the rarest and most fascinating gems of all. Australia is blessed with 90% of the finest precious opal including the famous black opal from Lightning Ridge in NSW. Precious black opal has a black body colour and can sometimes display all the spectral colours when viewed from different positions. This kaleidoscopic effect is known as play of colour and is due to the diffraction of light through spheres of silica in the atomic lattice of the gem. Vivid greens and blues are the most common colours while flashes of red are the rarest. Some precious opals can display distinct patterns such as Harlequin and Chinese Writing.
RAINBOW TOURMALINE
Tourmaline is the rainbow gem that appears in a myriad of colours. Reds are known as Rubellite, teal blues as Indicolite and a stunning bi-coloured gem with distinct colour zones of pink and green as Watermelon tourmaline. Other colours are golds, browns, Blacks, greens, oranges and pinks. The most prized tourmalines of all are known as Paraiba tourmaline. These stunning gems are coloured with traces of copper which give them a neon blue through to blue green colour which is highly prized among collectors. Named after the Paraiba district in Brazil from where they are mined, they will knock you out with their beauty.
Lizunova Fine Jewels can source any natural gemstone that you desire. Contact us for a consultation and we can present you with a selection of gems to inspire your bespoke jewellery piece.
Image courtesy of American Gem Society.
OPULENT OPAL
Opal is one of the rarest and most fascinating gems of all. Australia is blessed with 90% of the finest precious opal including the famous black opal from Lightning Ridge in NSW. Precious black opal has a black body colour and can sometimes display all the spectral colours when viewed from different positions. This kaleidoscopic effect is known as play of colour and is due to the diffraction of light through spheres of silica in the atomic lattice of the gem. Vivid greens and blues are the most common colours while flashes of red are the rarest. Some precious opals can display distinct patterns such as Harlequin and Chinese Writing.
RAINBOW TOURMALINE
Tourmaline is the rainbow gem that appears in a myriad of colours. Reds are known as Rubellite, teal blues as Indicolite and a stunning bi-coloured gem with distinct colour zones of pink and green as Watermelon tourmaline. Other colours are golds, browns, Blacks, greens, oranges and pinks. The most prized tourmalines of all are known as Paraiba tourmaline. These stunning gems are coloured with traces of copper which give them a neon blue through to blue green colour which is highly prized among collectors. Named after the Paraiba district in Brazil from where they are mined, they will knock you out with their beauty.
Lizunova Fine Jewels can source any natural gemstone that you desire. Contact us for a consultation and we can present you with a selection of gems to inspire your bespoke jewellery piece.
Image courtesy of American Gem Society.
