Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday, dear Olivia
Happy birthday to me!

That’s right, folks; the “O” in “Olivia” stands for “October Opal.”

Last month, I mentioned that I used to be jealous of my sister because my favorite color is blue, but sapphire is her birthstone instead of mine. Well, that was before I knew just how cool opals are!

The Flame Queen Opal, the world’s largest cut and polished opal.

Opals are actually not a stone, but a mineraloid gel! They’re typically about 3-10% water, but can be up to 20%, which explains its rating of 5.5-6.5 on the Mohs scale. They’re basically a form of hydrated silica. Sounds simple, but the resulting gem is intriguingly complex!

Thanks to its lattice structure, it can be iridescent (or “opalescent,” if we’re going to get technical), and just about any color under the sun! Some of them even exhibit “eye-of-opal”, in which the gem takes on an eye-like appearance when it in-fills a cavity.

The Flame Queen Opal, viewed from a different angle.

The most famous example of this characteristic is also the world’s largest cut and polished opal: the Flame Queen Opal. Not only does it exhibit “eye-of-opal,” but it also changes colors when viewed from different angles. The two pictures above are the same gem, shot from different angles!

So, I’m convinced: the opal is just as good a birthstone as a sapphire! So let’s get to some ways to show your true colors by sporting opal jewelry!

Affordable Accent

Macy’s 14K Gold Opal & Diamond Earrings, $131.75 at macys.com.

White opal gives these earrings an antique look and feel. But the milky opalescence (well, what else would you have me call it?) gives them a hint of mystery — which will leave admirers turning back for a second look.

The Investment Piece

Annette Ferdinandsen Tiny Matrix Opal Ring with Orange Fire, $840 at ylang23.com.

Fire opal.

Sounds exotic, doesn’t it? Well, the name certainly does justice to the bright orange lick of flame showcased in this fire opal ring. The Investment Piece should always make a statement, and this ring’s statement is: “This is why I’m hot.”

Living in Luxury

Ten Thousand Things Pinned Black Opal Buttercup Bracelet, $7,745 at ylang23.com.

Once you go black, you can never go back.

Black opal is so versatile; it’s simultaneously sleek, sophisticated, and mysterious. The colors and opalescence (there’s that word again) combine to give it great depth.

October Opals (like Olivia) are cute and fun, but there’s definitely more to us than meets the eye. There’s more to us than what’s on the surface, and we’re always going to keep everybody guessing.

Mysteriously,
Olivia

Posted on 06.October 2008 at 00:41 in Birthstones. Trackback-Url for this Article.