My last post discussed the opal as being a birthstone for October.  However, some charts also show Tourmaline as being a birthstone for October.  As with opal, tourmaline comes in different colors.  Depending on it's makeup, tourmaline can be black, brown, yellow, green, red, pink or bi or tri-colored.  Tourmaline Is said to become electrostatically charged when rubbed due to high manganese and iron concentrations..  Tourmaline symbolizes wealth, friendship and love.

While most gem quality tourmaline comes from Africa, Brazil and Sri Lanka, the U.S. is producing in mines in Maine and California. 

Healing Properties
  Green tourmaline is said to regulate blood pressure and strengthen the heart and nervous system.  Black tourmaline can protect against high radiation while blue tourmaline combats water retention and strengthens the immune system.  It also reduces throat and bronchial infections.  Watermelon tourmaline is helpful in relieving pain.

"Watermelon Tourmaline" by Madereugeneandrew (talk) - self-made. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Watermelon_Tourmaline.JPG#/media/File:Watermelo
n_Tourmaline.JPG

Wikipedia:  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Tourmaline01" by Reno Chris at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tourmaline01.jpg#/media/File:Tourmaline01.jpg

Hello again jewelry lovers!

This month's spotlight will be on October's birthstones.  Most of you may be familiar with the pink cubic zirconia that is usually the representative birthstone for October.  This is a synthetic stone, not natural.  The opal is the national gemstone of Australia.

Or you may know the birthstone to be an opal.  This opal is also synthetic but created to mimic a natural opal gemstone.  It is a milky white with inclusions of colors such as pink, blue, green or yellow. 

However, natural opal can come in different colors and not have the opalescence.  It can come in an aqua, pink, green, yellow, black or brown in color.  The "fire" can also be different colors than the white variety.  It can be blue with pink, purple or turquoise colors or it can be red with orange, yellow and gold colors.

This set is created with Ethiopian opal nuggets and tiger's eye nuggets.  The set at the top of this page was created from African opal rounds and a Mexican Fire opal pendant and Brandy opal discs on the earrings  There are many variations to be found depending on your budget but you can usually find something appealing and affordable in opal.

Hope you enjoyed this month's featured stone!  Let me know if you have any comments or questions.  I'd love to hear from you!

Credits:
."16.42cts Lightning Ridge black Opal" by Daniel Mekis - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16.42cts_Lightning_Ridge_black_Opal."Coober Pedy Opal 2" by Dpulitzer - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coober_Pedy_Opal_2.jpg#/media/File:Coober
_Pedy_Opal_2.jpgJPG#/media/File:16.42cts_Lightning_Ridge_black_Opal.JPG
Fire Mountain Gems

Most of us are familiar with the typical birthstones associated with your birth month.  They are usually found in most jewelry stores and many times are a synthetic stone.  I found this chart online that lists the traditional birthstone but it also shows their associated properties and optional or Semi-precious gemstone counterpart.

These are the birthstones we use to create birthstone jewelry.  I find that the healing property information is also valuable and interesting information. 

I hope to post more of this info monthly but in the meantime, you can find a wealth of information online.  There are many websites that do a great job of listing gemstones with photos, meanings and properties.  There are also many great books that are a great guide to gemstones.  I have one that I found on sale at Barnes & Noble a few years ago and it is one of my favorite resources. My book is called "Healingg Crystals and Gemstones - From Amethyst to Zircon" by Dr. Flora Peschek-Bohmer and Gisela Schreiber. 

Another great resource is Fire Mountain Gems.  They are a  jewelry maker's supplier and have a database of gemstones and birthstones.  They also have lots of other great information and products available.

Well, I hope this was helpful to those of you interested in learning more about gemstones.  I hope to hear any feedback you may have on this topic and would love to know what other topics you may be interested in hearing about.

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