Do you or a loved one have a birthday in October?  Well you can consider the other eleven months of the year jealous as you have the choice of either tourmaline or opals for a birthstone; some of the most beautiful and highly regarded gems out there. Let’s start with learning more about opals as they’ve held the position of October’s birthstone the longest. The most widely recognized trade name for an opal is the precious opal which can be subcategorized further by color modifiers, white, black, pinks, and blue, which describe the body color of the opal. Fire opal, the bright red, reddish-yellow, orange, or brownish-red body colored opal is the second most important opal commercially. Opals are considered mineraloids as their water content can vary 3% to 21% and are formed through sedimentary processes at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt. Basically, water has to leak down through layers of other rocks and minerals and then through a slow, crock-pot process, form the soft agate and silica crystals that refract light. Depending upon the base material the agate formed within and the minerals collected by the water determines the eventual color(s) of the opal. As one example with Van Scoy there is this beautiful genuine white opal with yellow and orange fire, set beautifully on 14K yellow gold with diamond accents. Due to the high water content of opals they are brittle, heat sensitive, break and scratch easily; additionally, some varieties self- destruct through the loss of water. Here is how you can care for your opal:

• Wear it often it likes to breathe. Touch it often. It likes contact with the skin. The natural oils in your skin keep the opal "moist" and lustrous.
• Do not wash dishes, clothes or other items with it on; the harsh detergents in dish or laundry soaps can "dry" out the stone.
• Do not wear opals in any type of hot tub, Jacuzzi, swimming pool, sauna, steam room, bath tub or shower. Exposure to prolonged submersion in any water with or without detergents or chemicals will destroy opals.
• Do not garden with it on. The soil can abrade the surface of your stone.
• Do not clean your opal jewelry with ultrasonic device. Use plain water and a good, nonabrasive hand or facial soap.
• Do not store your opal in oil or glycerin.

Alright, maybe opals, while beautiful, just are not what you’re looking for. Happily, in the recent decades American gemology has offered an alternative to opals as October’s birthstone, the exquisite beauty of tourmaline. As the USGS acutely summarizes why gem enthusiasts have such a fascination for tourmaline- Tourmaline can be colorless to just about any color, hue, or tone known to man. Individual crystals can vary in color along their length or in cross-section. The variation in color in cross-section can be concentric, as in the case of "watermelon" tourmaline, a pink core surrounded by a green rind. Or the variation may have a distinct triangular pattern as in the case of liddicoatite. Van Scoy has the ever-popular pink tourmaline, set here in as drop earrings: Other common varieties of tourmaline are:

• Schorl species from Germany; bluish or brownish black to black
• Dravite species: from the Drave district of Carinthia; a dark yellow to brownish black.
• Elbaite species: named after the island of Elba, Italy; red or pinkish-red—rubellite variety, light blue to bluish green—indicolite variety, green—verdelite variety, and colorless—achroite variety.

It is common for tourmaline to be heat-treated or irradiated to improve its color which is a common business practice among other traded gems, such as tanzanite. With Van Scoy you can have up to six months of interest free layaway as well as free shipping. So you can pick the perfect gift for yourself or that special someone and be confident you’re getting high quality jewelry on terms to meet your budget.