“The romance of precious opal begins when you catch the first glimpse of its movement with dancing light. Opal’s play-of-color can be compared to a lyrical dance, sometimes expressing itself as a grand jeté of bold, broad flashes of color, other times as smaller, quicksteps of pinpoint flashes.”

So begins a great article on opal, recently published by the Gemological Institute of America. If you’ve ever seen a ballet – you’ll know what GIA is talking about.

Perhaps that’s why dramatic opal is having a moment with Hollywood actresses. Several, such as Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones’s Mother of Dragons), and Helen Mirren, have sported them recently at awards shows and openings. They seem to light up a woman’s face and give her mystery and sparkle.

Fortunoff Jewelry has a great selection of different kinds of opals, just in time for opal’s birthstone month. From cabochon opals to black opals and boulder opals, you can find just the mix of colors you want. We also have wonderful opals from a new source in Ethiopia and we even have a gorgeous fire opal from Mexico. View our entire Opal Birthstone collection here.