The Birthstone of October - Beautiful Opal

Opal is said to enhance insight and dispels dread, and is known as being the birthstone of October. Opal is also given to as a 14th wedding anniversary gift. Opal gets it name from the Greek work “opallus” which means to see a change in color. This is apparent because opal has the ability to reflect wavelengths of light for a lovely vision. There are more than a dozen different colors of opals.

Opals are mined from deposits located primarily in Southern Australia, but there are still areas where you can find small amounts such as Nevada, Mexico, Brazil, and Czechoslovakia.

Opal is actually a non crystallized silica which is a mineral found near the earth’s surface in the areas where ancient hot springs once were. Roman’s referred to this gemstone as “Cupid Paederos,” which means a child as exquisite as love. The Romans also thought that opals fall to earth from the heavens in a flash of lightening.

On crowns opals symbolize hope and purity for ages. From the 14th century there have been some cultures that have thought that this gemstone was an Eye Stone which watches over royal families. They thought that the opal was the king of all gems because it has the range of all the colors in the rainbow.

You can acquire a black opal which has a dark body hue compared to most other opals, a white opal also referred to as a milky opal, a boulder opal which is very dark and magnificent in color, the crystal opal which has a transparent or semi transparent body tone and include forms of black and white crystal, and lastly the fire opal which is an American name meaning an opal that has got a specific red hue.

It matters not which color of opal you buy just always make sure you know what the hue symbolizes.

Published by www.MiltonGems.co.uk. Find a vast selection of October birthstone / opal jewellery. You can also get birthstone info here.