Happy October! This month's Birthstones are Opal and Pink Tourmaline
Opal is a beautiful and vunerable stone. It is the stone given to celebrate the 14th year of marriage. The name opal is the greek word opallios meaning "change of color". The first discovery of Opals was in Australia in 1849. Variaties are: The White Opal - translucent to semitranslucent with play-of-colors against a white bodycolor. The Black Opal - translucent to opaque with play-of-color against a black, dark gray, blue, green, brown or otherdark bodycolor. The Fire Opal - transparent to semitransparent with yellow, red, or orange to brown bodycolor, with or without play-to-color. It is also know as Mexican Opal, gold opal or sun opal. The Peacock Opal - play-of-color is predominantly blue and green. Typical cutting styles: Cabochons (domed smooth) Carvings, Faceted, Beads. Cleaning Methods: Ultrasonic: NEVER Steamer: NEVER Warm soapy water: SAFE Be careful, Opals will react to sudden Temperature changes and may crack, craze or fracture. Opals are fragile: avoid sharp blows.
Pink Tourmaline is also Octobers Birthstone. It is the stone given to celebrate the 8th year of marriage. Pink tourmaline is also known as a rubillite which is latin for red. Pink is one of the most valuable tourmaline stones. It ranges in pale pink to vivid deep pink. It was discovered in California in the 1800's but now it is primarily mined in Africa. It is a fairly stable stone. Cleaning Methods: Ultrasonic: Risky Steamer: Risky Warm soapy water is safe
