Opal & Tourmaline, the birthstones for October

Colours
Both the birthstones for this month feature vibrant and exciting colours and patterns.
Opals come in a wide and varying array of colours, sometimes solid and other times the stone is multi coloured or flecked with colour. When thinking of Opal many people will think of a pale stone with flecks of colour across it, however there are many more interesting and varied types than this. Opal can be found in opaque colours from white through to black with all containing a varied amount of flecking and colour play. Opals like fire opal (right) can also be found which are a translucent, vibrant orange in colour. Like Opal, Tourmaline is also a very unique stone for the fact that it too comes in a varied array of colours many times in one stone. Single colour Tourmaline is fairly rare with most stones having a variety of colours and colour nuances. Tourmalines can be found in most colours ranging from the almost clear through to black. (Chrome Tourmaline pictured below).