Scorpio Birthstone: Topaz, Its Color, Meaning and Alternatives

The Scorpio birthstone is topaz. Scorpio runs from October 23 to November 21, most of those days fall in November, and topaz is November's stone in the modern birthstone list and in the older month lists before it. The main alternatives are citrine (November's second stone), opal (for Scorpios born in October) and beryl, usually read as aquamarine, which a zodiac list printed in 1913 gives the sign. All of these are traditions, and the lists disagree.

The Scorpio Birthstone Is Topaz

One lead stone, five alternatives with a traceable source, and no official list.

The most common modern convention gives each zodiac sign the birthstone of the calendar month that holds most of its days. Scorpio spends 9 days in October and 21 in November, so it takes November's stone: topaz. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) lists topaz and citrine for November, and opal and tourmaline for October.

That is a convention, not a ruling. The standard American birthstone list, adopted in 1912 and revised since, assigns stones to months and says nothing about signs. Zodiac lists have no such standard, so the stones named for Scorpio run from topaz to obsidian. These are the ones with a traceable source:

Birthstones for October-Born and November-Born Scorpios

The same sign, a different monthly birthstone.

A Scorpio born in October has opal as the monthly birthstone, with tourmaline as the alternate, and topaz as the sign's stone. The month list and the sign convention disagree, so there are two legitimate choices, and a toi et moi ring can carry both. A Scorpio born in November has topaz under both systems, with citrine as the month's alternate.

Each month is covered in full in our October birthstone guide and November birthstone guide; What Is My Birthstone? has the monthly chart.

Why Scorpio Has More Than One Birthstone

The sign crosses two months, and the older zodiac lists follow a different rule from the modern one.

Two things cause it. The first is the calendar. Scorpio starts in the last third of October and ends in the third week of November, so it inherits the stones of both months. When people say Scorpio has two birthstones, they usually mean topaz and opal, one for each month.

The second is that zodiac lists predate the 1912 month list and do not match it. In 1913 the American mineralogist George Frederick Kunz printed a set of "Zodiacal Gems" in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. His entry for Scorpio, with the same dates used today, is beryl. Topaz goes to Sagittarius. He also copied an old Spanish list, which he thought probably Arab in origin, from Gaspar de Morales's treatise on precious stones (cited as Valladolid, 1604). In it Scorpio's gem is garnet.

Why Older Lists Give Topaz to Sagittarius

Topaz never changed months. Kunz compared eight earlier month lists, among them Roman, Arabian, Polish and Russian ones, and counted the stones. November is topaz in all eight. October is a beryl in all eight, named as aquamarine in five, and opal appears only once. What differs is the rule for attaching a month's stone to a sign.

Set the 1913 zodiac table beside those month lists and a pattern shows: every sign carries a stone the older lists give to the month in which the sign begins. Scorpio begins in October, so it takes October's old stone, beryl. Sagittarius begins in November and takes topaz. The modern convention attaches a sign to the month that holds most of its days, which hands November's topaz to Scorpio instead. Same stone, same month, different rule. The book does not state the rule; the two tables show it.

The month list then shifted underneath the signs. When American jewelers standardized birthstones at a meeting in Kansas City in August 1912, they named opal for October with tourmaline as the alternate, and topaz alone for November. Kunz objected in print that neither opal nor tourmaline suited October as well as beryl. Citrine joined November in 1952, when the Jewelry Industry Council of America revised the list.

Tanzanite, which some retailers attach to Scorpio, is a December birthstone and appears in none of these sources for the sign. The stone for every other sign, and the history behind both systems, is in our zodiac birthstones guide.

Scorpio Birthstone Color

Golden by tradition, blue in practice.

The traditional Scorpio birthstone color is the golden yellow to orange of November topaz. GIA's gem encyclopedia entry for topaz lists precious topaz, the trade term for the yellowish brown to orange material, as a birthstone for November and blue topaz as a birthstone for December. Its November birthstone page is looser and describes topaz in every color, blue included.

The color most shoppers actually meet is blue. In nature topaz is most often colorless, and strongly blue crystals are extremely rare. Nearly all blue topaz on the market is colorless topaz treated with radiation and heat, a permanent process that has supplied the trade since the 1970s. A treated blue stone is as genuine a topaz as a golden one.

• Topaz. Colorless, light blue, yellow, orange, pink, violet, brown and, very rarely, red. Imperial topaz, a reddish orange, is among the most valuable.
• Citrine. Pale yellow to brownish orange. The closest match to the traditional golden color.
• Opal. Any body color, crossed by flashes of spectral color.
• Beryl. Greenish blue as aquamarine, green as emerald, pink as morganite.

The sign has colors of its own, separate from its stones. One astrology handbook, The Astrology Bible, lists deep red, maroon, black and brown for Scorpio. Among the stones in the lists above, garnet, best known as a dark red gem, is the closest fit: see garnet jewelry. None of those lists names a black stone; for that look, browse black gemstone jewelry or read our black gemstones guide. For topaz's own range, the warm end is in yellow gemstone jewelry and the cool end in blue gemstone jewelry.

Topaz: The Lead Stone

Hard and brilliant, and less tough than its hardness suggests.

Topaz is a silicate of aluminum that contains fluorine. It rates 8 on the Mohs scale, harder than any quartz, and it takes a polish so high that GIA describes a faceted stone as slightly slippery to the touch. Minas Gerais in Brazil is one of the most important sources of high-quality topaz.

The weakness is cleavage. Topaz splits cleanly along one plane, and GIA rates its toughness as poor for that reason: a hard blow in the wrong direction can break a stone that dust and grit cannot scratch. Cutters allow for it by tilting the cleavage plane about 15 degrees away from the table facet, and jewelers favor settings that shield the edges.

Two treatments matter. The blue of blue topaz, described above, is stable. Mystic topaz is colorless topaz with a thin film applied to the surface; the film stands up to normal wear, but abrasive cleaners or a polishing wheel will remove it. Some yellow-to-brown topaz can fade after prolonged exposure to heat or sunlight.

At Aquamarise most of the topaz is genuine mined topaz in London blue, Swiss blue and sky blue, colored by the treatment described above, along with mystic topaz. A few designs use lab-created or simulated blue topaz, and the product page says which. We do not currently offer golden or imperial topaz; the warm November color in our range is citrine. See topaz jewelry, London blue topaz rings and topaz engagement rings.

Citrine, Opal and Beryl: The Alternatives

Each has a real claim on the sign, and each wears differently.

Citrine

Citrine is the transparent yellow to brownish orange variety of quartz. Quartz of this color is rare in nature; GIA notes that most citrine sold today is amethyst that has been heated to turn it yellow. Both are genuine quartz. Citrine rates 7 on the Mohs scale with good toughness, which GIA considers suitable for every type of jewelry, rings included.

Before modern gemology citrine was regularly mistaken for topaz, which is why folklore credits it with the same power to soothe tempers. For a Scorpio it is the practical route to the traditional golden color. Ours is genuine mined citrine, not lab-created, set in sterling silver with a rhodium finish, 14K rose gold vermeil, a black ruthenium finish and solid 14K gold: see citrine rings and the wider citrine jewelry collection. For the symbolism, read citrine meaning; for a side-by-side with the lead stone, see how the two November stones compare.

Opal

Opal is hydrated silica holding up to 20 percent water. Its play-of-color comes from stacked microscopic silica spheres that diffract light. GIA puts its hardness at 5 to 6.5 and its toughness at very poor to fair.

Opal's claim on Scorpio is purely by calendar: it is the October birthstone, so it belongs to Scorpios born before November. We set both natural Australian opal and lab-created opal; the product page says which a center stone is. Browse opal jewelry or opal engagement rings. For the lore, read opal meaning; for the dark-bodied variety that sits closest to Scorpio's own palette, see our black opal guide.

Beryl

Beryl is a mineral with several gem varieties, not a single gem. Aquamarine, emerald and morganite are all beryl, and all rate 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale. The 1913 verse says only "the beryl" for Scorpio. Because the older month lists so often write October's stone as aquamarine, that is the usual reading. Aquamarine is the March birthstone today, so a Scorpio who wears it is following the 1913 zodiac list, not the modern one. See aquamarine jewelry and our aquamarine meaning guide.

Meaning, Luck and Stones to Avoid

Reported as tradition. None of it is a property of the stones.

What topaz stands for. Strength, to the ancient Greeks. Protection from spells and a cooler temper, in Europe from the 1300s to the 1600s. Long life, beauty and intelligence, in a long tradition in India, when worn above the heart. Modern Scorpio guides describe the sign as intense and lean on the first two. Our topaz meaning guide covers the symbolism color by color.

The lucky stone. Modern lists say topaz. The 1913 verse says beryl is the gem every Scorpio should wear, on pain of "tears of sad repentance." Both are folklore. Wearing a single stone for one's birth date is a custom only a few centuries old, and no gem has a measured effect on luck, mood or health.

What a Scorpio is told to wear. By tradition: topaz first, then citrine, opal or beryl according to the list you prefer. Crystal sellers add obsidian, malachite, labradorite and black tourmaline, usually on the strength of the sign's element, water, or its ruling planets, Mars in traditional astrology and Pluto in modern. Tourmaline, in any color, is October's alternate birthstone, so it has a claim for an October-born Scorpio. Obsidian, malachite and labradorite appear in neither the 1912 list nor the 1913 zodiac table.

Stones to avoid. Neither the trade lists nor the 1913 tables forbid a Scorpio any stone. The warnings that circulate online, for example against emerald and yellow sapphire, come from modern astrology pages that cite no older source. Emerald is in fact a variety of beryl, the mineral the 1913 verse assigns to Scorpio, though that verse list counts emerald separately and gives it to Cancer. The only real restriction is practical: durability.

Which Scorpio Stone Holds Up in a Ring

Hardness resists scratches. Toughness resists knocks. A ring needs both.

Household dust and sand are mostly quartz, which sits at 7 on the Mohs scale. A gem at or below 7 can pick up fine scratches from that grit over time; a harder gem resists it. That puts topaz and aquamarine on the safe side of the line, citrine on it, and opal well below. Toughness is a separate property, and there the order changes.

Our order for a ring worn every day: aquamarine first; topaz and citrine next, for opposite reasons (topaz resists scratches but can cleave, citrine takes a knock but scratches sooner); opal last. Earrings and pendants meet far fewer hard surfaces, which is where opal is safest.

1. Protect the edges. A bezel or halo setting shields topaz from the sharp blow that could cleave it and keeps an opal's surface off tabletops.
2. Clean with warm, soapy water. It is the one method GIA approves for all four. The table shows what GIA allows for each stone on its own; for a finished ring, follow the care note on its product page.
3. Avoid sudden heat. Sharp temperature changes can fracture topaz, citrine and opal alike.
4. Store pieces apart. Topaz will scratch citrine, and harder gems will scratch opal.

In our own range, citrine and topaz are set mainly in rings, with London blue topaz also in a pendant; opal appears in rings and, paired with moss agate, in pendants and drop earrings. Browse gemstone rings, gemstone necklaces and gemstone earrings, or read our jewelry care page.

Scorpio Birthstone Gifts

Start with the birthday month, then the way the piece will be worn.

• November birthday. Topaz, the stone the sign and the month agree on, or citrine, November's alternate. Both are in November birthstone jewelry.
• October birthday. Opal for the month, topaz for the sign, or a design that sets the two together. Start with October birthstone jewelry.
• Anniversary. GIA lists blue topaz for the 4th wedding anniversary, citrine for the 13th and opal for the 14th.
• Metal. Blue topaz reads coolest in sterling silver or white gold. Citrine warms up in rose gold and stands out against a black ruthenium finish.
• For him. Tungsten carbide bands with crushed citrine or opal inlay are in men's inlay rings.
• For a couple. Matching sets that pair a topaz or citrine ring with a coordinating band: couples rings.
• Size unknown. A pendant avoids the question. For a ring, use our ring size guide; a free one-time size exchange is included.
• Make it personal. Engraving is available, and a date or a pair of initials suits a birthday.

Shop the Look

Topaz Jewelry

London, Swiss and sky blue topaz, handcrafted in sterling silver and solid gold.

Shop Topaz Jewelry

Ready-to-ship pieces leave in 1–4 business days; solid gold and platinum are made to order in 3–6 weeks, so order those well ahead of a birthday. More ideas: birthstone birthday gifts, birthstone jewelry gifts and the full birthstone jewelry range.

Sources for the history and gemology in this guide: GIA's November birthstones page and gem encyclopedia, and George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913), pages 316 to 320 and 345 to 347.

Scorpio Birthstone FAQ