Opal Jewellery bless individuals born in the month of October, and Opal Rings, Opal Earrings and Opal Pendants, hold the gemstones used to celebrate all sorts of 14th anniversary. Shakespeare once referred to it as being "the Queen of Gems". It is also the National stone of Australia.
The Opal Poem
You are ice and fire,
The touch of you burns my hands like snow.
You are cold and flame.
You are the crimson of amaryllis,
The silver of moon-touched magnolias.
When I am with you,
My heart is a frozen pond
Gleaming with agitated torches.
Opal History
Romans believed them to be more precious than diamonds due to their magnificent colour displays, and the Arab nations thought them to drop directly from the Gods down to Earth. Opal actually means "to see a change of colour", and they were known to offer the owner success and happiness throughout their life, as well as natural beauty!
The women of Scandinavian Countries still tend to wear them as hair bands in the belief they will stop the onset of greyness!
Since the beginning of first recorded time, opal gemstones have been steeped in legends and myths, and many ancients as far back as the first Aboriginal tribes of Australia, held such beliefs. They understood that the first human form was delivered to earth via a wonderful coloured rainbow, and where his or her feet touched earth, all the surrounding rocks and boulders were turned into "rainbow" coloured opals. They believed that this instance had given mankind the meaning of peace for all future times.
From the Greek word "Opallios" meaning colour change, is where the word opal originates, and during times there was a meaning "opalus", which described "a stone that originates from many other elements". This probably suggests that the Romans knew about the amazing "rainbow" colour changing effects obtained from the opal, many years earlier. Pliny, the esteemed Roman philosopher, said that with the opal "every colour would shine and sparkle together with wondrous combinations". It brought together all the best colours into one from many other gemstones.
Opals were not that common around the jewellery trade until around the start of the 19th century, but at this time their supply and demand increased unbelievably. Cutters around the world than found a great new source of work, which is obviously still going strong today. The jewellers of Victorian and Edwardian times, started to design and manufacture large items of jewellery set with opals such as "cocktail" rings and pendants, that were sometimes also set with diamonds. When the Art Deco period came, along with the popularity of using colourfully painted enamels, opals were then also set into this new style.
The beautiful colourful "rainbow" effects that are produced by opals, are brought about by the refraction of light and its interference when passing through the gems, by hitting tiny particles of silica that are found inside. This was researched and discovered by Australian scientists in the 1960's.
The price of opal gemstones is mostly dependent upon the quality and range of "rainbow" colours produced, no matter what the type or design of jewellery holding them. Less expensive variations are also obviously popular, such as "doublets" and "triplets", and the fact that smaller pieces of opal are actually used in their manufacture. Likewise, opal mosaic (small pieces of opal are put together to produce one) and synthetic opal variations are also popular and attractive.
If you are lucky enough to have any opal jewellery, then please wear it as much as possible, and show it off!
The Opal Poem
You are ice and fire,
The touch of you burns my hands like snow.
You are cold and flame.
You are the crimson of amaryllis,
The silver of moon-touched magnolias.
When I am with you,
My heart is a frozen pond
Gleaming with agitated torches.
Opal History
Romans believed them to be more precious than diamonds due to their magnificent colour displays, and the Arab nations thought them to drop directly from the Gods down to Earth. Opal actually means "to see a change of colour", and they were known to offer the owner success and happiness throughout their life, as well as natural beauty!
The women of Scandinavian Countries still tend to wear them as hair bands in the belief they will stop the onset of greyness!
Since the beginning of first recorded time, opal gemstones have been steeped in legends and myths, and many ancients as far back as the first Aboriginal tribes of Australia, held such beliefs. They understood that the first human form was delivered to earth via a wonderful coloured rainbow, and where his or her feet touched earth, all the surrounding rocks and boulders were turned into "rainbow" coloured opals. They believed that this instance had given mankind the meaning of peace for all future times.
From the Greek word "Opallios" meaning colour change, is where the word opal originates, and during times there was a meaning "opalus", which described "a stone that originates from many other elements". This probably suggests that the Romans knew about the amazing "rainbow" colour changing effects obtained from the opal, many years earlier. Pliny, the esteemed Roman philosopher, said that with the opal "every colour would shine and sparkle together with wondrous combinations". It brought together all the best colours into one from many other gemstones.
Opals were not that common around the jewellery trade until around the start of the 19th century, but at this time their supply and demand increased unbelievably. Cutters around the world than found a great new source of work, which is obviously still going strong today. The jewellers of Victorian and Edwardian times, started to design and manufacture large items of jewellery set with opals such as "cocktail" rings and pendants, that were sometimes also set with diamonds. When the Art Deco period came, along with the popularity of using colourfully painted enamels, opals were then also set into this new style.
The beautiful colourful "rainbow" effects that are produced by opals, are brought about by the refraction of light and its interference when passing through the gems, by hitting tiny particles of silica that are found inside. This was researched and discovered by Australian scientists in the 1960's.
The price of opal gemstones is mostly dependent upon the quality and range of "rainbow" colours produced, no matter what the type or design of jewellery holding them. Less expensive variations are also obviously popular, such as "doublets" and "triplets", and the fact that smaller pieces of opal are actually used in their manufacture. Likewise, opal mosaic (small pieces of opal are put together to produce one) and synthetic opal variations are also popular and attractive.
If you are lucky enough to have any opal jewellery, then please wear it as much as possible, and show it off!
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