Tourmaline is the newer October birthstone. Opal is also the stone given to celebrate the 14th wedding anniversary. Hundreds of years ago, opal was believed to embody the virtues and powers of all colored stones. Europeans long maintained opal to be a symbol of purity, hope and truth. Opal is the traditional October birthstone, and is believed to have originated in India (the source of the first opals brought to the Western world), where in Sanskrit it was called upala, a “precious stone.'Īncient Greeks thought opals bestowed the gift of prophesy and protection from disease.
