The month that wasn't content with just one stone
The October birthstone comes with a surprise right away: this particular month didn't have to settle for a single stone. Why October ended up with two, what meaning the opal carries, where the bad-luck myth comes from and which of the two suits you – one thing at a time.
Which birthstone belongs to October?
October has two official birthstones: the opal as the traditional main stone and the tourmaline as an equally valid second stone. The opal has held that role since the first standardized birthstone list of 1912; the tourmaline was listed there as an alternative at first and was later given equal standing. On the British list of 2013, October even has just a single stone: the opal.
That it was October of all months that received two stones is no coincidence. Both belong to the most color-rich gemstones there are. The opal shows its famous play of color, in which light interferes with an internal lattice of tiny silica spheres and flares up in spectral colors. The tourmaline occurs in more body colors than almost any other gemstone. The autumn month, when nature changes its colors, was given the two stones that can do exactly that.
Why did October get two birthstones?
October got two birthstones because the jewelers' associations placed the tourmaline alongside the traditional opal in the 20th century. The idea of birthstones reaches far back, all the way to the twelve stones on the breastplate of the high priest Aaron in the Old Testament. The modern assignment you know today, however, only took shape in the 19th and 20th centuries – and October has a small story of its own here.
Tiffany & Co. assigns the opal to October
The New York jewelry house publishes a booklet of birthstone poems for every month. The October poem is about the opal.
The first official list
The American National Association of Jewelers standardizes the birthstones. The opal becomes October's main stone, the tourmaline its alternative.
Pink tourmaline moves up
The Jewelry Industry Council expands the list and explicitly names pink tourmaline as October's second stone.
Britain makes up its mind
The British birthstone list keeps only one stone for October: the opal.
Equal standing in the US
On the current American list, opal and pink tourmaline stand side by side for October as equals.
For you that means: both stones are right. If you want the path richest in tradition, it is the opal. It has held first place since the very first list and remains Britain's only October stone to this day.
What does the opal mean as a birthstone?
As a birthstone, the opal stands for hope, creativity and purity. That meaning is more than two thousand years old. Its name alone tells the story: from the Sanskrit word upala ("precious stone") came the Greek opallios and finally the Latin opalus. The stone traveled with its name from India by way of Greece to Rome, and everywhere it left myths behind.
Bedouins: captured lightning
Bedouin tribes believed opals fell from the sky during thunderstorms and carried lightning inside them. Anyone who has watched a play of color flash to life understands why.
Greeks: a glimpse of the future
In ancient Greece the opal was considered a gift of prophecy and a protection against illness. A stone that shows every color seemed to see every time as well.
Rome: hope and purity
The Romans wore the opal as a symbol of hope, truth and purity. For exceptional stones, senators paid sums that would have bought country estates.
To this day the opal is said to unite the virtues of all colored stones, because it carries their colors within it. From that grew its modern reading as a birthstone: anyone born in October is credited by tradition with versatility, imagination and a mind of their own. You can read more about the symbolic side in our article on the meaning and properties of the opal.
An opal is 3 to 21 percent water and grew over millions of years in cavities in rock, drop by drop. Exactly how that happens is shown in our article How are opals formed? And why it shows colors it doesn't actually contain is explained by the physics of the opal: interference of light on a lattice of tiny silica spheres.
Does the opal bring bad luck?
No. The opal does not bring bad luck, and the superstition has an exact date of birth: 1829. That year saw the publication of Walter Scott's novel "Anne of Geierstein". In it, the mysterious Hermione wears an opal in her hair that flares up with her mood. When a drop of holy water touches the stone, its fire goes out, and Hermione dies shortly afterwards. Readers turned that into something Scott had never written: that the opal itself had brought the misfortune.
The consequences were real. According to accounts, opal sales in Europe collapsed by roughly half after the novel appeared and did not recover for decades. It took a queen to rehabilitate the stone: Queen Victoria loved opals, wore them in public and gave them to her daughters as wedding gifts. What sparkled at the court of the Empire could hardly be a stone of misfortune.
In short: the bad-luck myth is literature, not a property of the stone. In Australia, where most precious opal is mined today, the opal has always been considered a lucky stone. For people born in October it was never burdened anyway: as a birthstone it was always held to be especially lucky.
Opal or tourmaline: which stone suits you?
The opal is the stone for anyone who wants a living play of color that never stands still; the tourmaline for anyone looking for a strong, constant body color. Both are genuine October stones – they simply tell different stories.
| Feature | Opal | Tourmaline |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Play of color: spectral colors created by interference of light, shifting with every movement | Body color: a fixed inherent color, in almost every tone from pink to green |
| Character | No stone is like another, every opal is one of a kind | The greatest color variety among gemstones, but constant within a single stone |
| Hardness (Mohs) | 5.5–6.5 | 7–7.5 |
| Symbolism | Hope, creativity, purity | Protection, balance; with pink tourmaline: love |
| Birthstone since | Traditional, official main stone from 1912 | Alternative from 1912, named as pink tourmaline from 1952 |
| Care | A little mindfulness: no ultrasonic cleaners, no chemicals, avoid knocks | More easygoing in everyday wear |
Hardness head to head (Mohs scale)
Full transparency: at Liberty Angels we make opal jewelry and nothing else. We'll explain both October stones to you honestly, but our heart belongs to the opal, and we'll stand by that. If you want to know which types of opal exist, you'll find every opal at a glance in our lexicon.
Which zodiac signs belong to October?
Two zodiac signs fall into October: Libra (September 23 to October 22) and Scorpio (from October 23). The birthstone applies to the calendar month, not to the zodiac sign. It's still worth a look, because both signs find a surprising amount of themselves in the opal.
Libra (Sept 23 – Oct 22)
Libra loves harmony, aesthetics and fine balance. The opal mirrors that: it holds many colors in balance within a single stone, without any one overpowering the others. Light opals with a soft play of color suit this sign particularly well.
Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21)
Scorpio stands for depth, intensity and what lies beneath the surface. Its stone is the dark opal: a black opal shows its fire against an almost black background, mysterious and impossible to miss at the same time.
How do you give the October birthstone as a gift?
Opal jewelry for an October birthday is one of the most personal gifts there is, because no opal is like another: the person literally receives a one-of-a-kind piece that exists only once in the world. Three occasions the stone traditionally belongs to:
- Birthday in October: the classic. A necklace with an opal pendant carries the birthstone close to the heart.
- 21st wedding anniversary (opal wedding): in German-speaking countries, the opal is the stone of this anniversary. Twenty-one shared years, mirrored in a stone that never looks the same twice. Note: in the US and Britain the opal is the stone of the 14th wedding anniversary. The difference comes from the fact that the German wedding-anniversary tradition and the Anglo-American gemstone anniversary list developed two different assignments.
- Birth of an October child: an opal for the mother is a gift that tells the child's story from day one.
For the stone to shine for a lifetime, it needs only a few simple habits. Everything essential is gathered in our article on opal care. And if you want to check an inherited or bought stone: here's how to identify a real opal.
Find the birthstone for your October person
Every Liberty Angels piece carries a genuine opal, set in 925 silver or 14K gold. Four ways to wear the October birthstone:
Opal necklaces
Pendants that catch the light.
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Opal rings
Your play of color for every day.
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Opal earrings
Sparkle that goes where you go.
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Opal bracelets
Play of color around your wrist.
Discover →Your birthstone, GSB-certified
Every piece of Liberty Angels jewelry carries a GSB certificate: genuine opal, genuine 925 silver or 14K gold. The certificate is assigned online for each order, which makes it forgery-proof. With a stone as often imitated as the opal, that isn't a detail, it's the foundation.
Frequently asked questions about the October birthstone
Which birthstone belongs to October?
The traditional October birthstone is the opal. The tourmaline, especially pink tourmaline, is October's second official stone. The British list of 2013 names the opal alone.
Is the opal or the tourmaline the "real" October stone?
Both are official. The opal is the older of the two and the one richer in tradition: it already stood in first place on the first standardized list of 1912. The tourmaline was added as an alternative and was given equal standing in the US in 2016.
Does an opal bring bad luck?
No. The superstition arose in 1829 through Walter Scott's novel "Anne of Geierstein" and has nothing to do with the stone itself. Queen Victoria wore and gave away opals demonstratively. For people born in October, the opal has always counted as a lucky stone.
Which stone suits Libra and Scorpio?
The birthstone follows the month, not the zodiac sign. Harmony-loving Libra is well matched by light opals with a soft play of color, intense Scorpio by dark stones such as the black opal.
What does an opal cost?
The range is wide: from two-figure sums for small light stones to five-figure sums for fine black opals. Which factors set the price is shown in our article How much is an opal worth? including an interactive opal calculator.
What do you give for an opal wedding anniversary?
In German-speaking countries the opal is the stone of the opal wedding, that is, the 21st wedding anniversary. In the US and Britain it is traditionally given for the 14th. In both cases, a piece of jewelry with a genuine opal is the classic gift.
