Valued by most cultures, opals are prized possessions because of impressive and dazzling range of colors. Wearing opal jewelry gives an elegant touch to any outfit. Need some tips to know how to care for your opal jewelry? Read on to know more about this precious stone.
Beautiful and breathtaking-Opals are such precious stones that exhibit flashes of the colors of the rainbow. The name Opal has evolved from the Greek word ‘Opallus’-this means a change in color. Later on, the Latin word ‘Opalus’ meant a precious stone. The ancient Greeks had a theory about Opals. It was known that these had fallen from heaven during flashes of lightning. So, opals were considered as a byproduct of Zeus. The Romans believed that wearing Opals would help them to have clarity of thought. These stones with their tiny crystalline spheres have dazzled women with their beauty, since ancient times. Their play of color and their brilliance is what has attracted people towards buying and wearing Opal jewelry.
Opals are probably one of the few stones that have a rich folklore behind them. Opals are always in a class by themselves. The colors in the opal jewelry are created by the arrangement of silica spheres within the opal. Common opals do not have the flashes of color. Some of the colors that are widely seen in the opal jewelry are light or dark body colors that maybe either translucent or transparent or milky white, light green and pink. Black opals and black opal jewelry are the most expensive of all opals.
It is the volcanic ash that gives black opal its color. This is entirely due to the tiny spheres. Their body color can range from dark grey to black. These even have fiery flashes of color as well. The hardness of the opals ranges from 5.5 to 6.5. (On the Mohs scale) Australia is known to be the largest and the leading source as far as opals are concerned. Some of the other sources of opals and opal jewelry are from the United States, Africa, Brazil etc. So, how does one go about caring for such precious opal jewelry? Opals would require you to maintain a few rules when it comes to care of opal jewelry. Read on to know some ways.