Choosing opal for your jewelry: rings, bracelets and pendants

Opal is a fascinating stone, but of all gemstones it is certainly the most difficult to choose for jewelry mounting.

It is in fact complicated to give a physical description of opals as they vary in colour, transparency and reflections depending on the country of origin and often vary enormously depending on the mine of extraction.

Unlike a ruby ​​or a diamond for which it is easy to compare prices according to a few criteria (the famous 4Cs of diamonds), all opal stones are unique in their colors and plays of light.

So you will have to look for the most suitable opal jewelry for you by comparing the stones available to you based on your budget.

The diversity of opals is evident in these two photos.

Above noble opals from Australia and below white, transparent and fire opals from Mexico with and without light effects.

Mexican fire opals

Their composition makes them very delicate to cut and fragile if worn on rings or bracelets which are the jewels most exposed to impacts.

This article aims to guide you in choosing the stone by presenting you with all the useful information in order to create your own jewelry with opals.

Index

Composition and origins of opals

Opal settings on jewellery

Maintains opal stones

How to choose opal for your jewelry

Composition and origins of opals

Opals are not crystals, but an amorphous silica containing a variable proportion of water. They are the silica spheres which, by diffracting the light, are responsible for the luminous effects of the noble opals.

Their general color varies enormously depending on their composition and therefore depending on the nature of the soil where they were formed.

Unlike other precious stones that are enhanced when light passes through them, opals can be opaque and still present exceptional colored reflections, the result of the diffraction of the incident light.

Therefore we often find very beautiful opals on jewelry in the form of closed cabochons.

Opals can be opaque or translucent, black, white or red, and may or may not show light effects.

Mexican fire opal from the Magdalena de los opalos mine

Here are the different types of opals that may interest you for your jewelry:

• Noble opals: of variable colors, they present the play of light so sought after by opals, they are also the most expensive. Most of them are from Australia.
• Fire opals: translucent, their color varies from pale yellow to bright orange and they most often come from Mexico, they are also cheaper than noble opals. There are also noble fire opals, which are more expensive.
• Common opals: variable in color, they are opaque and do not show any play of light, which makes them economical to be mounted on a jewel or to constitute an ornament at a more accessible price.

• Doublet or triplet composite opals: these stones are not natural but made with pieces of natural opals too small to be mounted as well as on a jewel. These assemblages allow you to obtain large opals with natural light effects at a price much lower than that of natural opals of the same size. However they are generally more expensive than common opals.

Composite opals are made partly of natural opal to which a black mineral support (onyx, colored glass or other) is glued. Triple opal is covered with a layer of quartz to protect it, quartz being much more resistant to dust abrasion and impact than bare opal.

• Opal imitations: it is an artificial stone containing flakes that imitate the light reflections of a real opal. It is easily recognized because it does not have the diffuse colors of a noble opal.

Here are the different shapes that opals can take on jewelry:

• Cabochons: oval or free in shape depending on the stone, the cabochon has a flat side to place the stone on the setting and a rounded part, the brighter or more colored side of the stone. In the case of this photo, these are pink opals Peru oval in shape and a free-form Boulder opal.

• Rough opal: the opal frees itself from its rocky matrix, but retains the shape given by the rocky cavity in which it was formed. Some noble opals too small to cut can be mounted as is on a ring or as a pendant. The stone in the following photo is a noble translucent opal with a rough shape, too small and irregular to be cut into one of the classic jewelry shapes: round, oval or pear. The play of light of the opal is evident while photographs tend to show only a fraction of the reflections given by the stones.

• Cut opal: these are generally fire opals which can present plays of light cut into an oval, round or pear shape. They can be cut with or without facets as seen with the two opals below. The one on the left is perfect for mounting on a ring while the one on the right can be suitable for a pendant or earrings.

• Cantera opal: the opal is still trapped in the rock matrix where it was formed. We can clearly see in this photo the play of light of this noble opal trapped in the rock. This will be perfect for mounting as a pendant.

Type of setting on opal jewel

Despite the wide variety of opals, only two or three types of settings are primarily used to set stones in jewelry.

Opaque opals accept all types of settings, whether prong set, prong set or prong set.

Since light cannot pass through these stones, it is the light incident on the exposed face of the stone that, once diffracted, will give the play of light of the noble opal.

In the following photo, a noble cabochon-cut white opal is mounted in a frame on a gold pendant (photo credit).

The photo on the right shows a white opal ring that leaves the stone well exposed to the light. You will notice that the photo does not allow us to see the diffraction effects of the stone which are slight for this opal.

For translucent opals we prefer to let the light penetrate them.

We will therefore avoid closed frames in favor of a prong frame.

In the opal ring example pictured, only two prongs hold the opal in place on a ring allowing light to penetrate the stone in all directions.

It is a noble semi-translucent opal with yellow, orange and green reflections.

Also commonly used, mass setting allows the stone to touch the metal surrounding it. In the photo of this ring, the entire setting is covered in mass-set opal fragments.

Opal care

The shocks

Opals are particularly fragile stones and are easily scratched.

Their hardness is 6 (on the Mohs scale) while most powders have a hardness of 7.

In comparison, diamond has a hardness of 10, sapphires and rubies a hardness of 9, emerald a hardness of 8.

So you understand why precious stones such as rubies, sapphires and diamonds are renowned for their durability, they are the hardest stones.

This is why wearing opals on jewelry (rings and bracelets) must be accompanied by special attention.

You should avoid manual activities when wearing your opal jewelry, especially household chores (cooking, washing dishes, DIY, tidying up).

The chemicals

Opals are also sensitive to chemicals such as perfumes and cleaning products.

Again, if you wear rings or bracelets with opals, you should avoid handling cleaning products (dishwashing liquid, detergents).

As for opal necklaces, pendants and earrings, you will have to wear them after wearing perfume so as not to spray them with perfume.

The heat

Because they contain water, they are also very sensitive to heat and humidity.

You should avoid placing them near a fireplace or radiator (or any other heat source) at all costs because they risk dehydrating them, which can lead to fractures of the opal in your jewelry or oxidation if it is a translucent opal.

Likewise, if you are going on a trip, check the climate of your destination.

A sudden change to a dry climate could affect the appearance of your opal jewelry.

Cleaning

To clean your opal jewelry, you will need to avoid tools that could scratch the stone or chemicals that could alter it.

The best thing to do is to use a soft, damp cloth to wipe the stone.

If your opal is scratched, you can take it to a lapidary to be polished again. Be careful, it is important to rely on a lapidary to experiment with opals, given that the polishing of these stones is delicate and requires particular know-how.

Choose your opal to create your jewelry

For all the reasons previously mentioned, opals are not recommended when it comes to purchasing or creating an engagement or wedding ring that will be worn every day (for this type of jewelry we will prefer precious hard stones such as diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald).

If you want choose a noble opal onlineyou will need several photos of each stone from different angles to understand all the effects of light on the stone.

It is very common for photos to mute the actual colors of the stone. In the following photo we can see a noble cantera opal mounted on a ring, the play of light changes depending on the direction of the light and the framing angle.

These photos give a good idea of ​​the quality of the stone.

In the following photos you can see a ring with a pear-shaped Welo opal cabochon.

Welo Opals come from Ethiopia and are the most sought after for the quality and intensity of the stone’s colors.

Silver ring with welo opal from our laboratory

If you are looking for a very beautiful stone at a lower price, it will be a good idea to turn to composite opals (opal doublets and triplets) which are more affordable than natural opals, but whose colors and play of light are actually natural.

Finally, if you purchase your opal at a manufacturing site while traveling, do not purchase hydrophane opals.

These are identical to noble opals when immersed in water but tarnish when dehydrated in the open air.

If you are offered rough stones in a bottle full of water, be careful.

To go further: