Sedona Gem and Mineral Club

Tourmaline is available in a rainbow of beautiful colors while opals are each one-of-a-kind.  You can’t go wrong with either.  Focusing on tourmaline, it can display multiple colors in one gemstone- cranberry, red, magenta, pink, peach, orange, canary yellow, mint, grass, forest green, ocean blue, and violet – you are sure to find one you love.  Tourmaline is a complex aluminous borosilicate mineral built of crystals with complicated aggregations of sodium, aluminum, boron, oxygen, hydrogen, and silicon atoms. Other metals are also present within the crystal structure and are responsible for the characteristic colors of the gemstones. Pink, for example, is due to the presence of manganese, while ferrous iron, chromium, or vanadium betray their presence as green gemstones.  When rubbed, it becomes charged with static electricity – used by Benjamin Franklin in his works.  It is a recent discovery, but among some people, it is known as the “peace stone,” believed to dispel fear and make its wearer calm.

Opals are famous for their many colors that flash when moved – caused by impurities within the stone.  The principal source is Australia noted for its magnificent black opals, but fire opals can be mined in the US, and there are other commercial sources throughout the world.  The name derives from Sanskrit meaning “precious stone”.  Legends in Rome exist, and in the Medieval period, color change was believed to indicate the health status of the wearer.  In the mid-14^th century, it was blamed for the Black Death as when a person died the sensitivity of this stone to changes in temperature would alter as the person moved from a burning fever to the chill or death.  Today, the opal symbolizes faithfulness and confidence