Things to know about Opal Jewelry

Opals are a mineraloid rather than a mineral as they do not possess crystalline qualities. Opals include all colours in the spectrum and was considered a magical gemstone in the Middle Ages. These is found mainly in Australia where it is the national stone. Following the novel Anne of Geierstein by Water Scott opals were seen negatively (on opal in the novel kills the heroine) and opals was a while were not very popular. This together with the discovery of very large deposits in Australia has brought the price down. Now they are the birthstone for people born under the sign of Libra or in October.

Many opals you find in jewelry are opal doublets which means they are thin veneers of opals covering another material but they are very iridescendent which it is what you expect a opal to be. There are also triplets which are three layers with the most precious opal the visible layer and cheaper opal and quartz in the two layers beneath. You should always find out whether your stone is a composite or a solid stone as composites stones should never be immersed in water for instance (the water can go under the surface and damage the stone).

Most opals will be white with colours appearing as soon as the stone is moved, there are also black opals which are more valuable. Some people say that stones with   more reds and yellows are more valuable but that depends a lot on whole stone, what everyone agrees with is that  the colours should change when you turn the stone and give an impression of being three dimensional. Opals are very soft and porous and might not be the best choice for rings that you intend to wear on a daily basis as they might crack and get damaged fairly easily. They are great as earrings and as they are a birthstone of lucky stone they are a good choice of a present as a pendant to wear regularly.

As usual when you buy any jeweller ensure that you go to a trustworthy source. You need to know about the origin of the stone and which treatment it has received and also you want a good quality piece of jewelry overall. In the case of opals for instance you want to know whether you are buying a solid stone or a doublet or a triplet as the difference in price would be quite substantial. There are also lab created opals which can look great and might be the perfect solution if you want to wear your jewelry daily without having too worry but they should cost a fraction of the price of a real natural opal.