October Treasures: Opals and Tourmalines

October Treasures

Doug Mitchell

Diamond Doug is Owner/Artist at UniQ Jewelry Gallery. More info: uniqjewelry.com.

he birthstones for October are infamous Opals and Tourmalines! But did you know that Opals and Tourmalines come in different varieties and colors? As your very own admitted, committed, colored gemstone junkie, we’re going to dive into the wonders of Opals, Tourmalines, and their varieties.

OPALS

There are so many different varieties & classifications for Opals, but here are our most favorite ones.

Ethiopian Opals

Ethiopian Opal is a new variety of opal discovered in Wollo province of Ethiopia. It is highly valued for its vibrant body hues, bold color flashes, and patterns. These opals are superior in terms of quality but are relatively less expensive than the other popular origin varieties such as Australian Opals.

While Ethiopian isn’t necessarily a “variety” of Opal, when you see “Ethiopian” behind Opal...you know you’re in for a fabulous light and color show!

TOP TO BOTTOM: Blue/Green Opal Pendant Set in 14 & 22 Karat Yellow Gold

Carat Ethiopian Opal and Diamond ring Set in 14 Karat Yellow Gold

White/Light Opals

“Light opal” and “white opal” are names used for opals with a white, yellow, or cream color. These are the most common body colors for precious opal - especially in the early opal that was mined in Australia.

Until the last few decades, white opal was what most people in the United States thought of when they heard the word “opal” - because other varieties of opal were seldom seen in jewelry stores in the United States.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Pear Shaped White Opal Set in 14 Karat Yellow Gold Free - Form Pendant

Multi Ethiopian Opal Ring Set in Sterling Silver

Opals are one of nature’s biggest wonders of this world. Cutting just a bit further could reveal even more beauty, or it could diminish the natural light-play. One thing is for sure: each and every opal mined, and cut is a total one-of-a-kind wonder.

Black Opals

“Black opal” is a term used for opal that has a dark body color, often black or dark gray. The term is also used for opal that has a dark blue or dark green body color.

The dark body color often makes the fire of black opal more obvious. This contrast of fire color to body-color makes black opals very desirable and sell for high prices.

LEFT TO RIGHT: 8” Freeform Opal Doublet Bracelet set in Sterling Silver; Free - Form Round Opal Doublet Ring Set in Sterling SIlver.

Mexican Fire Opals

Many of the Mexican opal varietals are precious and highly sought after for their translucency and a rich base of reddish coloration. In fact, the national gemstone of Mexico is the Fire Opal.

Mexican Fire Opals mostly come from the excavation projects among the volcanoes in the Mexican Highlands. Mexico’s historical mining of opals dates back to 1835, before the commencement of Australian operations. The Mexican Highlands comprise significant deposits of a rare and translucent opal with a fiery red glow. The Mayans and Aztecs revered this fire opal for its beauty. And historians understand this precious stone relates ancient Mayan and Aztec art and ritualistic ceremonies.

TOP TO BOTTOM: 0.55 Total Carat Weight Mexican Fire Opal and Diamond Ring in 14 Karat Two Tone Yellow and White Gold. Oval Mexican Fire Opal and Diamond Earrings Set in 14 Karat White Gold

Boulder Opals

Boulder opal is a rock that contains thin seams and patches of opal surrounded by or attached to its natural host rock. The cutter studies this rock and decides how to cut the best possible gem. That gem might be cut to display seams and patches of precious opal as they appear within their natural host rock. Alternatively, the gem might be cut in an orientation that presents a thin seam of precious opal as the face of the gem with its natural host rock as a backing.

Some people also consider “boulder opal” to be an ingenious cutting style that beautifully utilizes small seams and patches of precious opal that are too small to cut into gems of solid opal.

Much precious opal occurs as thin seams and patches within a host rock of ironstone, basalt, rhyolite, andesite, quartzite, sandstone, or other material. Some precious opal also forms within the cavities of fossils, concretions, and nodules. The opal in these types of rocks is often too small to isolate and cut into a gem composed only of solid opal. It is also too beautiful and valuable to go unutilized. So, the cutter decides to fashion a cabochon or a bead or a small sculpture that includes both precious opal and its natural host rock.

It’s easy to see why people so easily confuse tourmaline with other gems. Very few gems match tourmaline’s dazzling range of colors. From rich reds to pastel pinks and peach colors, intense emerald greens to vivid yellows and deep blues, the breadth of this gem’s color range is unrivaled.

Pink Tourmaline

Pink Tourmaline is a stone of love, compassion, emotional healing, and self-love. It helps calm one’s emotions in times of distress and is the perfect stone to carry if you suffer from daily bouts of anxiety. This stone is such a strong healing stone due to it commonly being formed within Quartz masses.

TOP TO BOTTOM: .49ct Purple Tourmaline Necklace 1.20 Carat Pink Tourmaline & Diamond Ring Set in 14 Karat Yellow Gold

Green Tourmaline

Green tourmaline is also known as verdilite. Green Tourmaline is a unique miracle of color. Often two or more colors are found in a single tourmaline crystal making a bi-color tourmaline. Also rare are tourmaline gems which appear to change their color and cat’s eye green tourmalines. When Green and Pink Tourmalines come together, they make what gemstone lovers call “Watermelon Tourmaline.”

TOP TO BOTTOM: Tri - Colored Tourmaline Stationary Necklace Set in 14 Karat White Gold Watermelon Tourmaline Ring Set in 14 Karat White Gold

Paraiba Tourmaline

In 1989, Brazilian miners discovered a unique and brightly colored variety of tourmaline in the state of Paraiba. The new type of tourmaline, which soon became known as Paraiba tourmaline, came in unusually vivid blues and greens. The gemstone world was captivated from the very beginning by the beauty and neon glow of the Paraiba tourmalines. In no time at all, they achieved great popularity, and today they are among the most sought-after and most expensive gemstones in the world. Prices for loose Paraiba tourmaline gems continue to climb and have already reached a level which, earlier on, would not have seemed realistic for a tourmaline.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Trillion Cut Green Tourmaline Ring Set in 14 Karat Rose Gold Green Tourmaline & Diamond Ring set in 18 Karat Yellow & White Gold

Black Tourmaline

Black tourmaline is a hexagonal crystal and part of the aluminum borosilicate family, and specifically, it includes magnesium, iron, and other metal elements that determine its color. It’s found on every continent in the world, and the most common color is black. Black tourmaline has a Mohs hardness of around 7 - making it safe for the crystal to be in the water. It grows in these beautiful hexagonal need-like formations, with vertical striations that may be visible even in polished form.

Black tourmaline is one of the most powerful grounding, purification, and protection stones and is often used in physical and meta-healing.