Natural opal varieties and care

    In today's article, you will learn about the varieties of opals, their colors, and cutting, as well as how to care for them.

Opal Varieties

    There are precious opals with iridescence (characteristic sparkles) and ordinary ones (without sparkles). The more uniform the color of the stone and the stronger the glare, the higher the cost. In our jewelry, we use only natural opals. However, there are also doublets and triplets. To be brief, these stones have a minimum opal percentage. We do not use these 2 species because they are artificial. In our opinion, any natural stones contain energy, which gives to jewelry life and character. In addition, doublets and triplets are more vulnerable to damage.

What are the colors and forms of opals?

    The color palette of these stones is quite rich, but the most popular among our customers: white / milky, black, fire opal, all with a characteristic iridescence for the stone (glare).

How to take care of opals?

    The issue of care is not in vain, because it is a rather specific stone that is almost unlike any other. If you want your jewelry with opals to keep their presentation, you need to follow certain rules.

1. Opal is a soft stone, according to the Mohs scale its 5.5-6.5 (for comparison: amethyst — 7, blue topaz — 8, sapphire — 9), which means that it needs careful care. After all, it is extremely easy to scratch it on a hard surface, and in the fall it can even break off a piece.

 2. Opal are very sensitive to water, perhaps because it consist of it for 5-25%. On the Internet you can find a lot of information that water does not affect natural opals at all and, on the contrary, it should be soaked.

We will tell you only the information that is derived from our experience and the experience  of our customers.

It is undesirable to wet the opal, because when it absorbs a lot of moisture, the stone's color is lost.

After drying (depending on the amount of water absorbed - from several hours to several days), the opal will again sparkle.

If the water was not clean (lots of soap, pool water, sea water), the sparkles could disappear forever.

Therefore, it is important to remember that you can't wash the jewelry with opals in an ultrasonic sink (in case you take your favorite ring with opal to the workshop).

3. Excessive moisture will afect the opals badly. It is better to remove jewelry with opals before going to the sauna or bath.

4. Avoid direct sunlight and excessively dry air — the stone may crack.

If you don’t wear jewelry with opal for a long time, we advise you to put it in a box or a soft bag (so as not to damage the stone with other decorations) next to a cotton wool moistened with a small amount of water. If you are thinking about buying opal jewelry, then you can safely buy it. Opals require just a little more attention.

The elementary rules (which, incidentally, concerns other stones) are to remove jewels with opals at home, during physical work and try not to take a shower with them. Rain on the street? — Do not worry, for opal it is not critical!