The best opal birthstone jewellery for October

Lucky Librans get to celebrate their birth month with dazzling, dramatic opals. Here, we round up the best opal jewellery worth dreaming about this October

BY Joshua Hendren

September 29 2021

Congratulations, lucky Librans. October is a month associated with one of the most dazzling birthstones, the opal. The gemstone’s famously iridescent glow is due to tiny inclusions of silica within its makeup which refract light, rather than reflecting it, bestowing each opal with a rainbow of different hues.

“In them you shall see the living fire of ruby, the glorious purple of the amethyst, the sea-green of the emerald, all glittering together in an incredible mixture of light,” said the Roman philosopher, Pliny the Elder, who described the opal’s kaleidoscopic properties in the first century AD.

For centuries, this spectacular stone was associated with royalty and good fortune, magic, and mystery (including astral projection) due to its unearthly colour-shifting qualities. Arabic legends tell of opals falling from the sky during thunderstorms, trapping flashes of lightning within. Meanwhile, the ancient Greeks believed opals could act as talismans, imbuing their wearer with the powers of prophesy and protection from disease.

But the gemstone’s delicate nature (it registers at 5 or 6.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, so it’s easier to damage or scratch than many other gemstones) has also led to associations of misfortune and bad luck in the past. Treat an opal with care, however, and you’ll be rewarded with an enchanting jewel that will bring joy and colour for a lifetime. Here, we round up the best opal jewellery available right now.

Hirsh London