October's Birthstones: Opal and Tourmaline

Touchstone offers some wonderful choices when it comes to opal and tourmaline jewelry for your October birthdays.

 Opals are translucent with flashes of color due to the amorphous non - crystalline order. It is like a liquid caught in a frozen state with particles floating around with no defined order so we call it a mineraloid and not a mineral.
Care: Opals are a delicate gemstone that need special care. Please do not  knock them as they can scratch easily. (Not recommended to wear while doing house work or gardening!)  Clean your opal jewelry with a mild soap and a very soft brush. 
Source: Opals are found in Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Tanzania, and the United States. 

Bracelet adorned with opals and ammolite.

---

Tourmaline

.
Tourmaline is one of the most vivid of gemstones. IT comes in many combinations of color including "watermelon" tourmaline as shown in this pair of earrings and the necklace pictured.

The necklace has a full display of tourmaline in both rough gems and also natural forms of dark greenish black tourmaline crystals at each station. The center piece is a large watermelon tourmaline showpiece. Source: Tourmaline is found in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Australia, Canada, and the US. Tourmaline is also the gemstone for the state of Maine.

---