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Opal: Nature's FireworksFiction from one of the worlds great classic writers, Sir Walter Scott, has given October's birthstone an undeserved reputation for bad luck. In his novel, "Anne of Geierstein", the heroine owned an opal that turned fiery red when she was angry, and turned ashen gray upon her death. Within months of publication the opal market had crashed and prices were down by 50%. And even though in the Orient opals stand for loyalty and hope, modern western society has not yet allowed opals to recover from this myth! History & Mythology:Mysterious opals contain the wonders of the skies - sparking rainbows, fireworks, and lightning - shifting and moving in their depths. Opal has been treasured throughout history around the world. Archaeologist Louis Leakey found six thousand year old opal artifacts in a cave in Kenya! Roman historian Pliny described the beauty of opal as the combination of the beauty of all other gems: "There is in them a softer fire than the ruby, there is the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald - all shining together in incredible union. Some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil." 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. Some thought the opal's effect on sight could render the wearer invisible. They were recommended for thieves! Shakespeare found in the opal a symbol of shifting inconstancy, likening play of color to play of mind in one of the most apt uses of gemstone symbolism in literature. In Twelfth Night, he writes: "Now the melancholy God protect thee, and the tailor make thy garments of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is opal." A Gem of Water, Born in the Desert:The story of opal in Australia begins more than 100 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 this silica became precious opal. Opal still contains 6 to 10 percent water, a remnant of that ancient sea. Only opal with a perfectly aligned grid of silica spheres will show play of color, which is created through diffraction. The size of the spheres determine the wavelengths and therefore the colors seen. The brilliance of the colors are determined by the regularity of the grid. The strength of the colors seen in opal also depend on the background body color and the transparency of the stone. The body color determines the variety of opal and has a large impact on the value. A more unusual type of opal is boulder opal, which has opal with an ironstone host rock matrix which creates a natural dark background to view its fire. Choosing an Boulder Opal:Within each opal variety, the brilliance of the play of color is the most important value factor. After this consideration, the colors seen and the pattern of the colors will also influence value. Generally, opal with red fire is the rarest and most valued because opal that shows red will also show other colors when rolled back and forth: it contains the whole spectrum. The pattern of the play of color also influences value. Boulder Opal is found only in Queensland, Australia, and has recently found its market as both USA and Asian buyers discovered its unprecedented colors and unique shapes. Most of Australia's opal formed either as free stones or with common opal (potch) attached. But in Queensland, opal sometimes formed firmly attached to ironstone, a beautiful reddish-brown porous host rock that is often filled with precious opal. Last century miners busily set about to carefully cut the opal away from ironstone. Now the two are left attached because the ironstone provides an opaque backing that both emphasizes color and makes the gems much more durable. Specifications:
Care & Maintenance:Do not expose to extreme heat or cold. Use a mild hand soap and water for cleaning. |
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