Halloween is only 3 weeks away! The pumpkins are out in force, although I’ve noticed an increase in oddly-shaped gourds this year. I’m sorely tempted to buy one for no other reason than to carry it around and tell people how gourdgeous they are. No? Too far? Moving on!

Continuing our birthstone theme since October has three beautiful stones to discuss, let’s talk about Pink Topaz! Why it’s pink instead of orange, I do not know. However, it’s a happy stone revolving around joy, generosity and good health. Much like Rose Quartz, it brings love and good fortune to mind. Who knows, maybe it’d help you find your true love, if your Prince(ss) Charming hasn’t yet appeared in your life! It may increase motivation and inspire confidence as well.

Topaz also presents in many different colors, as you may have noticed. Imperial, one of the rarest natural hues, is a beautiful yellow-gold. Perfect for October, don’t you think? Talk about a missed opportunity. And though Topaz is often known for being delightfully blue, blue Topaz is rarely natural. But, it can show off with pink and purple hues that could probably take on a Sapphire in a rock-fight. In some cases of mistaken identity, it may also be confused with Smoky Quartz.

Speaking of mistaken identity, “topaz” was once a catch-all for yellow-ish stones for a long time, when people didn’t realize that some of these were actually different minerals, like Quartz, Sapphire, or even Beryl.

Did you know? Topaz comes from a deposit near a Brazilian town called Ouro Preto (Black Gold) and from Russia’s Ural Mountains. (And a few other places, but we’re not going to list them all, ok?) And, Topaz has four-sided crystals, whereas Tourmaline only has three. And (but wait, there’s more!), it is a pleochroic stone, meaning that it can show other colors in different crystal directions. Fancy, huh?

Last, but not least, Topaz has a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, which means it’s one of the hardest silicate minerals. Only Diamond, Corundum, and Chrysoberyl are commonly known to be harder.

That’s it for this week’s post! Now, I’m off to see if there are any gourdgeous Halloween costumes out there with my name on them. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and we’ll see you again soon.

 

 

Hello, and welcome to SilverScaleStudio’s first ever blog post! Here we’ll be writing about all sorts of things, such as the stones and beads you may find in pieces here, and other interesting bits of information as they pop out of the shrubbery.

Can you believe it’s October? Neither can I! And here’s something else I can’t believe: people who insist they know my birthstone better than I do. Have you got that person in your life? You know the one.

Well-Meaning Individual: “Say, what’s your birthstone?”

You, Definitely Knowing What You’re Talking About Because it’s Your Stone, Dagnabbit: “So glad you asked. It’s an Opal!”

WMI: “You poor thing. Don’t you know it’s actually Tourmaline?”

Now, since it’s impolite to bop people with rolled-up newspapers, no matter how tempting, you can simply show them this post. (And say HAH! In your head. But very loudly.) For as luck would have it, you’re not hallucinating. The list of gemstones delegated to birth months has changed over the years, though not very often.

In 1912, the Jewelers of America National Association first adopted an official list of 12 birthstones. According to the American Gem Society, the origin of these stones is believed to date back to the breastplate of Aaron, which contained 12 gemstones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. But the idea of birthstones actually has a place in many traditions, belief systems, and customs around the world.

Then, in 1952, it was updated to add Alexandrite (June), Citrine (November), Tourmaline (October), and Zircon (December) as acceptable birthstones. Then again in 2002, when Tanzanite was added to December’s growing pile of allowed pretty rocks. Small variations persist among the lists used by various organizations in the trade, too. Some specify a hue—blue stones only for December, as an example.

So, if you find yourself taking a dislike to your birthstone for whatever reason, you can simply look at another list in hopes of finding another one.

Since it’s October—apparently, at least that’s what the calendar says—let’s talk about one of the official stones for the month: Opal.

Opals are gorgeous fiery stones that may encourage optimism, enthusiasm and creativity. They come in a slightly ridiculous (but fabulous) range of colors, including Cherry, Fire, and White. These are simply common names, however, and by no means an exhaustive list. Different types have equally different energies associated with them. Cherry opals, for example, present with pink, orange and reds, and may increase energy levels or boost one’s mood.

Did you know? The water content of an opal ranges from 3 to 21%. They’re actually classed as mineraloids because of their amorphous character. In English: a mineraloid is a naturally-occurring mineral-like substance, which does not demonstrate crystallinity. In addition, they have chemical compositions that extend beyond the generally accepted range for specific minerals. Other examples of mineraloids include Obsidian and pumice.

If your eyes haven’t glazed over and you’ve made it all the way here, congratulations! You deserve a pumpkin spice latte. Or tea. Or, you know what, whatever floats your meticulously crafted boat. (: Thanks for reading! Happy October, and we’ll see you again soon.