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Opal Jewelry
Opal jewelry is very beautiful due to opal's many colors. Watching the fire in opal jewelry is enchanting.
Opal Jewelry 
Care & Where
Books
Glossary Opal
Lore
Birthstones
Anniversary
Lore
Jokes
Cutting Opal
Gemstone Jewelry
Birthstone Jewelry
Products
Opal Jewelry Care & Where
What is Opal?
Opal is a noncrystalline form of the mineral silica which, despite its amorphous
structure, displays an amazing degree of internal organization. Opal is related
to its more commonly found but highly crystalline cousins quartz and agate,
and is formed from amorphous "balls" or lumps" of silica rather
that from ordered, naturally faceted crystals.
The chemical composition of opal is SiO2H2O, silicon dioxide combined with
water (an opal stone may contain up to 30% water.) The silicate minerals in
the stone add to its weight, giving it a specific gravity ranging from 1.98
to 2.5 times that of pure water. Opal's scratch hardness is measured at 6.0
to 6.5 on the Mohs' scale, similar in hardness to quartz, a little more than
halfway between the hardness of talc and diamond.
Most opal is more than 60 million years old and generally dates back to the
Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
How Do You Care For Opal Jewelry?
Opal is a "living" stone, which means it
must be protected from heat and detergents that "dry" the gem.
Hence, take off opal jewelry before doing household tasks.
Opals develop crazing if they are allowed to dry out.
Heat treatment is catastrophic!!
In addition to cracking, loss of water causes loss of iridescence.
To clean opal, simply wipe it with a clean, soft dry cloth such as silk or cotton. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners, chemicals, or toothpaste when cleaning opal jewelry. Generally you do not want to immerse opal jewelry in water.
Where is Opal Found?
It is found near the earth's surface in areas where ancient geothermal hot
springs once flowed. The minerals bubbled up from beneath the surface of the
earth and slowly, over the centuries, lined the walls of cracks, vents and
underground cavities in the bedrock. Most opal is found where geothermal hot
springs dried up during seasonal periods of rainfall and extended dry periods.
More than 90% of the world's quality gem opals come from Southern Australia,
although it can be found in other parts of the world such as Brazil, Mexico,
Czechoslovakia, Nevada and Idaho. All black opals come exclusively
from Australia.
How is Opal Made?
The story of opal inn Australia begins more than million years ago when the
deserts of central Australia were a great inland sea, with silica-laden sediment
deposited around its shoreline. After the sea receded and disappeared to become
the great Artesian basin, weathering 30 million years ago released a lot of
the silica into a solution which filled cracks in the rocks, layers in clay,
and even some fossils. Some of the silica became precious opal. Opal is one
of the few gemstones that is sedimentary in origin. The water in opal is a
remnant of that ancient sea.
The most striking quality of opal is its ability to refract and reflect specific
wavelengths of light. In fact, the term "opalescence" was coined
to describe this phenomenon. The size and spacing of the amorphous spheres
of silica within the stone refracts specific wavelengths of light; each sphere
refracting a single, pure spectral color much like the individual microscopic
droplets of water in a rainbow. The interplay of these pure wavelengths of
light gives opal its unique visual appeal, and makes it one of the most sought-after
gemstones in the world.
Themed Books
Opal Gem-related books:
- Opal Identification and Value - by Paul B Downing
Learn more about how to choose your Opal jewelry wisely.
- Opals (Fred Ward Gem Book Series.) - by Fred Ward, Charlotte Ward
Great quick reference on opals and opal jewelry
- The World of Opals - by Allan W. Eckert
The first comprehensive book on opals in over 30 years, this book covers the history of opals, where opals are found and how the stone is mined. It also covers cutting, polishing techniques and other methods for working with this "Queen of Gems."
- Opal Cutting Made Easy - by Paul B Downing
Guide to cutting Opals for opal jewelry.
- Gemstone Buying Guide: A Guide to Buying - by Renee Newman
Very nice gemstone identification book.
- Gemstones of the World - by Walter Schumann
A very well written source on gemstones with great descriptions and photographs
Books with Opal in the Title:
- Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart - by Phyllis A. Whitney
An adaptation of an authentic journal kept by an orphaned six-year-old girl.
- Hurricane Opal: Live on Video
A whirlwhird of a movie on Hurricane Opal
- Opal Darkness (Black Lace) - by Cleo Cordell
Literature book
- The Prisoner in the Opal - by A.E.W. Mason
Mystery
- Return to Opal Reach (Scarlet Series) - by Clarissa Garland
Romance: a story of passion and pain and healing, and two people from different worlds trying to work out their difficult marriage.
Bibliography:
- The Curious Lore of Precious Stones - by George Frederick Kunz
The definitive book on fascinating, traditional gem lore.
- Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks) - by Cally Hall, Harry Taylor (Photographer)
A field guide to gemstones. Nice pictures and good, brief, well-written descriptions of over 130 varieties of gemstones.
- Spiritual Value of Gem Stones - by Wally Richardson and Lenora Huett
Very sweet book on the mystical properties of gemstones.
Thanks to Amazon.com for fast, efficient, and reliable book processing
Opal Jewelry
Care & Where
Books GlossaryOpal
Lore
Birthstones
Anniversary
Lore
Jokes Cutting Opal
Gemstone
Jewelry
Birthstones
Birthstone Months with Opal
- April Birthstone: Mystical Birthstone
- June Birthstone: Other Birthstone [listed on another website elsewhere on the web]
- October Birthstone: Modern and Ayurvedic Birthstone
- Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): Birthstone
- Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22): Birthstone/Lucky Charms
Anniversary Gemstone
Opal Mystical Properties
Opal jewelry is used to see possibilities in ones life.
Jokes
Working with gem-quality Opals
Care must be taken when polishing and setting opals.
Despite their hardness, they are prone to crazing and cracking, and loss of
water content causes a noticeable loss of iridescence. To prevent this, opals
are normally stored in moist cotton wool or cloth until it is time to work
with them. Sometimes, an opal that has lost its opalescence may be "rejuvenated"
by rehydrating the stone with water or special oils, but this may only temporarily
improve the stone's appearance.
In the opal cutting process the potch (a kind of mineral crust) is ground
away from the presentation areas of the gem opal. This process unlike diamond
mining, where the blueground (Kimberlite) is crushed away from the diamond
crystals.
Individual opals are "dopped" -affixed to the ends of wooden dowels
about the size of old fashioned wooden clothespins, usually with dopping wax,
which resembles sealing wax.
Grinding and polishing of opals is done under a cold water drip to prevent
the stones from overheating and cracking. A series of grits is used, from
coarsest to finest, to produce the desired finely polished surface that reveals
the full play of color in the opal.
Most gem opals are ground to a highly polished convex oval shape called a
"cabochon."
Opal Lore
- High quality opal is more valuable than diamond; up
to $20,000 per carat.
- Opal is the October birthstone.
- Some people think the opal is bad luck when worn if
it is not your birthstone. This is not true. The story was started by Sir
Walter Scott in his novel Anne of Gierstein, in which the heroine of
the novel has her life force caught in the beautiful opal she wears and she
dies when the fire in the opal is extinguished.
- In ancient times opal was accepted as a symbol of
faithfulness and confidence.
- The name "opal;" is derived from the Latin
word opalus, meaning seeing jewel.
- The Arabs believed that opals fell from heaven in
flashes of lightning, and that's how they received their fiery color.
- Opals are very powerful in ritual magic. Since a quality
opal contains every color of every other birthstone, it can be used or charged
with all the energies and powers of the other stones combined and can be used
in place of any birthstone for spells, rituals or other magical needs. Opals
have been linked to invisibility and astral projection. and have been used
to recall past lives (each color supposedly represents a past life).
- It has reputed healing properties, especially to increase
mental capacities such as creative imagination and other unused powers of
the mind.
- Fire opals are often used in money rituals to draw
funds to those who are in need, normally worn as a pendant on a gold necklace,
one surrounded with 10 or 12 small diamonds is said to have excellent money
drawing power.
- Black opals are the tools of choice for witches and
magicians, who use them primarily to enhance their magical receptive or projection
powers. Black opals worn near the heart on necklaces made of gold are said
to ward off evil, protect one from the evil eye and protect travelers on journeys
to far away lands. Opals have been ground up and used a magic potions to heal
the body, ward off bad dreams, and used an energy enhancement tools.
- The white opal, when used in rituals on the full moon
night, is said to bring the moon goddesses' powers to full fruition in the
practitioner.
- Archaeologist Louis Leakey found six thousand year
old opal artifacts in a cave in Kenya!
- The Aztecs mined opal in South and Central America.
- Opal was also treasured in the Middle Ages and was
called ophthalmios, or "eye stone," due to a widespread belief
that it was beneficial to eyesight. Blonde women wore opal necklaces to protect
their hair from losing its color.
- A beautiful opal called the orphanus was set
in the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. It was described "as though pure
white snow flashed and sparked with the color of bright ruddy wine, and was
overcome by this radiance."
- Opals are also set in the crown jewels of France.
Napoleon gave Josephine a beautiful opal with brilliant red flashed called
"The burning of Troy," making her his He
More Opal Lore
Opal has been described in medival times as a cure for diseases of the eye.
Opal jewelry is given as a symbol of hope, happiness and truth.
Black opal is regarded as an extremely lucky stone.
Virgin Valley Fire Opal is a US State Gemstone of Nevada.
Special thanks to Australian
Opals and Gem Gold Jewelry, Custom Opal Jewelry for allowing us to
reprint much of the content of this page.
Opal Jewelry
Care
& Where
Books Glossary
Opal Lore
Birthstones
Anniversary
Lore
Jokes
Cutting Opal
Gemstone Jewelry
Birthstones
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