For most people, the word “Opal” triggers images of milky
white stones with flecks of assorted, muted colors. The words “fiery” or
“spectacular” are nowhere in sight or mind. That is, until you see one. The
stark contrast between the two images below is vast and undeniable.
As with most stones, there are different qualities about
them, and those qualities are what set them apart from others in their own
family. Most opals displayed in stores are the least interesting, lowest
quality stones. Most people have never seen just how exquisite and vibrant
opals have the ability to be.
An opal’s background color often provides the backdrop it
needs to display the play-of-color going on in the stone. A black background
lets those colors pop in a bright, beautiful way, turning opal into what we
believe is one of the most interesting stones there are.
Opals with white backgrounds tend to wash out the colors and
leave them appearing as mild, pastel-like afterthoughts of blended color.
This,
unfortunately, is what people associate with opals.
We here at Poway Fine Jewelers don’t always carry the
dynamite opal that we are showing you here, but we have access to it for all
you October babies (or those shopping for their October babies!)
Tourmaline – a stone with one of the widest color ranges of
any gem species in the world – is October’s second birthstone. With a variety
of hues in shades of red, pink, magenta, peach, orange, yellow, green, blue,
and violet, tourmaline lives up to its name, which means “mixed stone”. Those with October birthdays can choose from
a multitude of colors and shades to mix-and-match for bracelets and pendants,
or select a solid color or a rare two or three-color tourmaline for a ring or
pendant. The options are endless.
And if you’re in the market for this stone, San Diego has
some of the most prominent tourmaline around. A mine located in Mesa Grande has
been in use for the past 100 years and contains some of the highest quality
tourmaline in the world.
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