The more recent birthstone for October is tourmaline. Because it frequently has several hues in a single crystal, the term derives from the Sinhalese word toramalli, which means “stone with mixed colors.” Few gems can rival the stunning variety of colors found in tourmaline. Perhaps for this reason, ancient mystics thought that the birthstone for October could stimulate creative expression. There is a color scheme for each mood. The pink and red rubellites, the emerald green “chrome tourmalines, and the neon green and blue-to-violet “paraba tourmalines are among the most well-liked varieties.
Tourmaline was frequently mistaken for other gemstones because to its wide range of colors.
The “Caesar’s Ruby pendant, one of the “rubies” in the Russian crown jewels, is actually red (rubellite) tourmaline. In the 1500s, a Spanish conquistador discovered green tourmaline crystals in Brazil and mistook them for emeralds. Until tourmaline was identified by scientists as a different mineral species in the 1800s, these and other instances of misidentification persisted for many years.
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Since when is tourmaline a birthstone?
Other colored gems shouldn’t take the tourmaline stone for granted. Although the birthstone for October may not be as well recognized, that doesn’t make it any less beautiful. If you appreciate color and beauty, tourmaline jewelry should be a part of your jewelry collection.
Learn these fascinating tourmaline facts before adding this gorgeous stone to your jewelry collection.
THE OTHER OCTOBER BIRTHSTONE
One of the fortunate months with multiple birthstones is October. Up until 1952, when Jewelers of America changed their list, the birthstone for October was Opal. Tourmaline was then designated as the birthstone for October. The gemstone associated with October is thought to be pink tourmaline.
DIFFERENT TOURMALINE COLORS
Tourmaline has the largest color variation of any gemstone, despite the fact that pink tourmaline is most frequently associated with the month of October. Before modern mineralogy was created, the variety of colors was frequently mistaken for other well-known jewels (ruby, sapphire, emerald, etc.). The following are some common tourmaline hues:
- RUBELLITE:
- INDICOLITE:
- TOURMALINE IN CHROME:
- TOURMALINE WITH PARTIAL COLORS:
- TOURMALINE OF WATERMELON:
WHERE TOURMALINE STONES ARE FOUND
The birthstone for October can be found in several locations, much as tourmaline comes in a variety of colors. Brazil is a significant supplier of tourmaline stone. With mines in California, Maine, and New Hampshire, the United States also has access to tourmaline stones.
The following locations are where the October gemstone is mined:
Is tourmaline or opal my birthstone?
The modern birthstone for October is tourmaline, which is a beloved gemstone for many due to its wide range of exquisite colors. The traditional birthstone for October is opal. Opal gemstones are absolutely one-of-a-kind because each one is embellished with a special color combination.
What color is the birthstone tourmaline?
Due to its intricate makeup of numerous minerals, tourmaline is a vibrant alternate birthstone for anyone born in October. The color of a tourmaline stone is determined by trace concentrations of specific components, and the options are numerous.
Tourmaline: Symbolism and Meaning
The tourmaline birthstone symbolizes strength and defense. Tourmaline is said to protect against toxins, pollution, and negative ideas and to represent power.
In ancient Egypt, it was thought that tourmaline emerged from the earth to the surface in a rainbow. The basis of the gemstone’s name, “tura mali,” which literally translates to “stone of mixed colors,” is a Sinhalese or Sri Lankan word.
The Mohs scale of hardness values this October birthstone between 7 and 7.5, making it a robust jewel suitable for daily wear.
Tourmaline: Color
Tourmaline is a birthstone with a wide range of hues, including pink (the most popular) and green as well as blue and purple, or a mix of these. To fit your style and preferences, tourmaline is available in a range of colors. The birthstone for October is a multipurpose stone that may be used in a variety of jewelry designs, from rings to pendants.
Tourmaline: Origins
Despite leaving traces throughout history, tourmaline was first identified in Brazil in the 16th century, according to the earliest records, however this wasn’t confirmed until the 19th century. Today, deposits of tourmaline may be found all over the world, including in Australia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Pakistan, and the United States.
How to Choose a Tourmaline Birthstone Jewelry
The most typical way to enhance or treat a tourmaline is with heat. In comparison to if it had not been heated, the stone’s color will be beautifully visible, much more bright, and have a deeper hue.
The general worth and durability of the stone are not in any way diminished when it is heated. It serves only to intensify the stone’s natural colors.
Rectangular cuts are the most recommended for tourmaline stones since they are longer and capture more of the stone’s beauty and sparkle. You might also want to look at the angle of the cuts for deeper color, though.
This birthstone for October is also well recognized for having minute defects, called inclusions. However, you won’t be going at the inclusions when you’re looking for features that have a negative impact on price. Instead, you should pay particular attention to the gemstone’s hue. You will be able to tell right away that the price will be significantly decreased if you discover that it incorporates a white colour.
The value of a tourmaline stone increases with its clarity. The color is the most important item to think about when buying tourmaline because each hue will have a different price, and this can limit your budget.
A popular option is red tourmaline, and green tourmaline is ideal if you’re seeking for an elegant substitute for emeralds. The Brazilian Paraiba Tourmaline, which is clear with a neon blue or green tint, will be the most expensive tourmaline you can locate. The price will increase if the stone’s color becomes more rare.
Caring for Your Tourmaline
Every few months, wash your tourmaline jewelry in warm, soapy water. Before storing it, wipe it thoroughly with a gentle cloth and allow it to completely dry. To keep your tourmaline jewelry secure and scratch-free, place it in a soft cloth or container.
Is tourmaline the birthstone for October?
Opal and tourmaline are two magnificent birthstones that are used to mark the birthdays of those born in October. Both birthstones for October feature stunning hue and countless color combinations.
What month does black tourmaline fall under?
One of the two birthstones connected to October is tourmaline, the other being opal. Tourmaline was recognized as one of the birthstones for October in 1952 by the American Gem Society and the National Retail Jewelers Council. What a joyous and lucky addition for individuals who were born in October! There are many stunning color variations available in tourmaline, which comes in a real rainbow of hues. Its name itself is derived from the Sinhalese word toramalli, which signifies a stone with a variety of colors.
Possibly having two birthstones
Tourmaline and opal are the birthstones for October. Due to its wide range of exquisite colors, tourmaline is a popular gemstone for many people. Opal gemstones are absolutely one-of-a-kind because each one is embellished with a special color combination.
What is the birthstone for October?
Opal or tourmaline, depending on your source, is the birthstone for October. The most popular birthstone for October is opal. They are incredibly diverse rocks, changing in appearance according to the process of formation. A lot of jewelry uses precious opals because of their eye-catching, iridescent colors. However, even the less spectacular common opals have a subtle beauty that makes specimen collections popular.
Opals are not considered minerals in the traditional sense, unlike the majority of other gemstones. They have an intricate lattice structure made up of many microscopic silica spheres. Due to light interfering with their internal architecture, these jewels, known for their “dance of colors,” flash rainbow hues when moved.
In fissures and crevices in volcanic rocks that are close to the surface, opals form. Percolating groundwater dissolves silica, which finally crystallizes to form the opal, in sedimentary volcanic ash rock. Rarely does it replace fossilized wood, bones, or shells whose original material has disintegrated away.
Characteristics of opals
Opals are soft stones that can easily have their appearance changed by variations in pressure and heat. The gemstone’s appearance depends on the water content in the rock. An opal shrinks somewhat as water evaporates out of it, and the stress of the evaporation causes fissures in the stone.
Opals’ distinctive colors are caused by impurities within the rock. Tiny gas bubble inclusions are indicated by milky or pearly opals. Iron oxides are indicated by yellows and reds. Magnesium oxides and organic carbon within the stone give the stunning black opals their hue, which can occasionally show flashes of green, blue, and red. The harlequin design, which has sizable angular patches of red, yellow, and green that resemble the checks on a clown’s outfit, is possibly the most expensive opal pattern.
Australia is where most of the world’s opals are mined. It is famous for its stunning black opals in particular. Another newer supplier of opals is Ethiopia. On a lesser scale, northern Nevada is home to a large variety of opals, some of which are in the form of fossilized wood. Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Turkey, and the Czech Republic are additional commercial opal producers.
Opal lore
The Sanskrit term for opal is the source of the name “opalus, from the Latin word upala, means “precious stone.”
The fascinating iridescence of the opal was described by the ancient Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder in his work, “Precious Stones: A Natural History.
The hardest to describe of all valuable stones is opal, which exhibits at once the piercing fire of carbunculus, the purple brilliance of amethystos, and the sea-green of smaragdus, all mingled together and refulgent with an extraordinary brightness.
The history of the opal is described in an Indian myth. Adapted from Willard Heaps’ book Gemstones:
The gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva once competed over a lovely woman out of jealous love. The Eternal became enraged by this and transformed the fair mortal into a mist creature. The three gods then gave her their respective colors so that they could each distinguish her. She was endowed by Brahma with the dazzling blue of the skies, by Vishnu with the grandeur of gold, and by Shiva with his blazing red. However, it was all in vain because the exquisite phantom was carried off by the winds. Finally, the Eternal felt sorry for her and changed her into an opal, a stone that glistens in every hue of the rainbow.
Heaps also noted that opals had symbolic significance in earlier cultures. Opals were dubbed the Cupid stone by the Romans. The anchor of hope, as the Asians called it. Arabs thought that people descended from the sky. Opals were originally the talisman of thieves and spies in Poland because it was believed that wearing one would render the wearer invisible.
October birthstone: evil superstitions
An opal’s color intensity was thought to shift during the medieval era, signaling whether the wearer was healthy or ill. According to legend, the opal kept a robust heart, avoided fainting, guarded against infection, and purified odorous air. The stone continued to stand for optimism just as it has in the past.
But by the middle of the 14th century, the opal’s reputation had shifted. One-fourth of Europe’s population perished when the Black Death swept through. The gem was thought to be the fatal factor. When worn by a victim of the fatal plague, it was bright only while the wearer was still alive. Then it would seem different and lose its brilliance. It was actually this stone’s sensitivity to temperature fluctuations that caused it to appear different as the heat of a raging fever gave way to the chill of death.
People in Elizabethan England prized opals for their beauty. It was referred to as the “queen of diamonds” by Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night.” Opals gained popularity because Queen Victoria cherished them and gave them to her children. However, the stone’s reputation remained tainted, largely as a result of Sir Walter Scott’s 1829 book Anne of Geierstein, which portrayed it as a stone of evil.
Opals have always played a role in Australian Aboriginal cultures. In one tale from the Dreamtime, a pelican was sleeping amid a spectacular display of hues. A spark that was released when he picked at the colored stones set the dry grass on fire. His people were able to prepare fish and meat for the first time as the fire spread to them.
Tourmaline, an alternate October birthstone
Tourmaline, which displays the widest range of gemstone hues, is the alternate birthstone for October. Gem-quality varieties of this material have previously been mistaken for sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. In actuality, it was long believed that a famous tourmaline, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, belonged to the Russian monarch Catherine the Great.
Toramalli, a phrase used to describe bright stones in Singhalese (Sri Lankan), is said to be the source of the name of this gemstone.
Tourmaline characteristics
A complex silicate mineral that contains boron, tourmaline can also contain other elements like iron, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, and lithium. They are available in a wide range of hues, including yellow, green, red, blue, pink, brown, and black. The colors of gemstones are caused by metals that are part of the crystal structure. Manganese, for instance, is responsible for the color pink. While magnesium provides browns and yellows, iron produces colors that range from black to deep brown. Lithium-rich tourmalines can generate a range of hues, including blues, greens, and reds. Even some crystals have the ability to be bicolored. The watermelon tourmaline variant features a pink or light red inside and green outer margins that change to a translucent white zone.
Small pieces of paper, lint, and ash are drawn to tourmalines when they are heated or rubbed. The gem acquires a static electrical charge as a result. Benjamin Franklin actually used this gem in his research on electricity. Since heat from the display case’s lights creates a charge in the tourmaline that attracts dust, maintaining a tourmaline exhibit at a museum necessitates frequent cleaning of the gemstone.
Tourmalines have only recently been discovered compared to other gemstones. As a result, it lacks the extensive history that many other precious stones have. However, some consider tourmaline to be the “peace stone,” dispelling fear and calming the wearer.
Why do October have two birthstones?
Opal is thought to possess magical properties by many cultures. The ancient Greeks believed that opals imparted the gift of prophecy and protection from disease, while the Bedouin (nomadic people who lived in the desert areas of North Africa) thought that opals held lightning and fell from the sky during thunderstorms. Opal is thought to represent all the virtues and powers connected with colorful stones, according to Europeans, who have long held the belief that it represents optimism, purity, and truth.
Even the wearing of opals by anyone other than those who were born in October is seen to be unfortunate. It wasn’t inspired by anything spiritual, but rather by Sir Walter Scott’s 1892 book Anne of Geierstein (aka The Maiden of the Mist). Opals were regarded as historically lucky before then.
It’s critical to understand the type of opal you are caring for while deciding how to care for it. Incredibly porous Ethiopian opals, for instance, are prone to “taking on” moisture. As a result, a qualified jeweler should take care of this particular opal’s maintenance. Other opals are composites, which are made up of many materials. You also need to be quite cautious when cleaning those opals, also known as doublets and triplets.
On the Mohs scale of hardness, opal falls between 5 and 6.5. Opal should be stored by itself to prevent damage from jewelry containing tougher gems. Certain opal settings, such as doublets or triplets, which are tiny opal slices glued to a base material and covered in a thin coating of pure quartz, can become brittle when exposed to water for an extended period of time. When exposed to abrupt temperature fluctuations, particularly extreme heat, natural opal can fracture.
It is possible to treat this October birthstone using oil, wax, or plastic impregnation, although we do not advise it. The safest approach to clean your opal jewelry yourself, in our opinion, is with warm, soapy water, says Southern California-based bespoke jeweler Shmukler Design.
Tourmaline is a more recent addition to the birthstone pair for October. Because tourmalines can have several hues in a single crystal, the name “tourmaline” is derived from the Sinhalese word “toramalli,” which means “stone with mixed colors.” As a result, some believe it to be a “chameleon” gem that frequently passes for other gemstones. There were quite a few confusions prior to the 1800s when tourmaline was identified as a unique species of mineral. A Spanish conquistador mistakenly believed green tourmaline crystals he discovered in Brazil during the 1500s to be emeralds.
Tourmaline is still most frequently found in Brazil, but it is also mined in other countries as well, including Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Madagascar, and even here here in the United States, specifically in California and Maine. While California’s tourmaline deposits were located in the early 1900s in San Diego County, Main’s were first identified in 1822 in southern Main at Mount Mica (in the town of Paris).
Tourmaline’s vibrant, dramatic colors are a result of copper deposit accumulation. In actuality, it wasn’t until the 1980s that the first electrifying green, blue, and violet tourmalines were found.
Due to the wide range of color variations, many ancient societies thought tourmaline might stimulate creative expression. According to popular belief, tourmaline comes in a variety of colors.
- Black is said to give its user protection and self-assurance.
- Green is said to encourage fortitude, bravery, and strength.
- Pink is thought to represent kindness and affection.
The customary present for the eighth wedding anniversary is tourmaline. In addition, pink tourmaline is one of the more well-liked colors to give as a gift because of its romantic qualities.
Tourmaline ranges from 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, making it slightly harder than opal. It is resilient for daily use and resistant to heat, light, and the majority of chemicals. With warm, soapy water and a soft brush, we think the best way to clean tourmaline is. We advise against using steam and ultrasonic cleaners on tourmaline.
What gemstone symbolizes each month’s birth?
What stones represent each month’s birth? Garnet, amethyst, aquamarine, diamond, emerald, alexandrite, ruby, peridot, sapphire, tourmaline, topaz, and blue topaz are the gemstones associated with the months of January through December. Find out more about these well-known gemstones.
Tourmaline is a type of stone, right?
Boron is combined with elements like aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium to form the crystalline silicate mineral group known as tourmaline (/trmln, -lin/ TOOR-m-lin, -leen). There are many different colors of tourmaline, which is a gemstone. Lengthened and parallel.