Opal

There’s something deeply soulful about opals. Their shimmering colours seem to shift with your mood, your outfit, or the weather. No two are the same – each stone is a miniature artwork created by time, nature, and a little bit of magic.

They’re also one of the most expressive gemstones for custom design. Whether you’re crafting a pendant, ring or pair of earrings, opals offer a softer, more organic kind of beauty – less traditional sparkle, more spellbinding glow. Their depth and character make them an especially meaningful choice for jewellery making.

The incredible flashes of colour in opals – often called "fire" or "play of colour" – are the result of microscopic silica spheres packed tightly inside the stone. These spheres diffract light, bending and scattering it into different wavelengths, depending on their size and arrangement.

This phenomenon creates dazzling rainbows that dance across the surface as the stone moves. No dyes, no filters – just pure natural physics, perfected over millions of years.

It’s this unique internal structure that makes loose opals so fascinating to look at and so treasured in jewellery making.

Did you know?: It wasn’t until the 1960s that scientists finally discovered the answer. Using an electron microscope, they found that opals contain tiny silica spheres, arranged in a neat, three-dimensional grid. This natural optical wonder is what gives precious opals their hypnotic beauty, and no two stones will ever show exactly the same pattern. It’s light and science, captured forever in stone.

Not all opals are created equal. Their body colour, transparency, and the quality of their play of colour all influence their beauty and value.

Here’s a quick guide to the main types:

🖤 Black Opal – dark body tone, often with intense flashes of colour; the most valuable and rare.

🤍 White or Light Opal – pale or milky body, typically with softer pastel colours.

💜 Crystal Opal – transparent to translucent with vivid internal colour play.

💚 Boulder Opal – formed within ironstone, showing flashes of colour against a natural dark backing.

❤️ Fire Opal – usually from Mexico, transparent to translucent with warm body tones (orange, red, yellow); may or may not display colour play.

💛 Common Opal – opaque, without play of colour.

When valuing opal, experts look for pattern, colour brightness, colour range, clarity, and overall visual impact. Red flashes tend to be the most prized, followed by orange, green and blue.

Opals are often over 50 million years old, formed from a mix of water and silica from ancient rocks. As the silica-rich water seeped into underground cavities, it slowly hardened over time into a hydrated silica gel – giving birth to opal.

Unlike quartz, which is crystalline, opal is a solidified gel – a unique structure that makes it both fascinating and fragile. Its delicate formation is part of what makes it such a magical, otherworldly gemstone.

Most of the world’s fine opals come from Australia, with additional deposits found in Mexico, Brazil, Ethiopia, and parts of the USA and West Africa.

Opals are steeped in legend. In Hindu mythology, they were said to be born from the rainbow – a divine transformation of light and love. The Romans believed opals were the most powerful of all stones, holding the virtues of every other gemstone in their shifting colours.

In Medieval Europe, opals were thought to make the wearer invisible – the secret stone of thieves and dreamers. Australian Aboriginal legends tell of a Creator who stepped down to Earth on a rainbow, giving birth to opals where his foot touched the ground.

Whether you believe in their mystical powers or not, there’s no denying their otherworldly beauty.

With a hardness of 5.5–6.5 on the Mohs scale, opals are more delicate than other gemstones and benefit from thoughtful care. Their natural water content (typically 2–6%) also means they’re sensitive to dryness and heat.

To keep your opals looking their best:

- Avoid prolonged exposure to heat or direct sunlight – this can dry the stone and cause cracks (known as “crazing”).

- Store in a cool, slightly humid environment, or simply wear them regularly to let them absorb moisture from your skin.

- Clean gently with a soft, damp cloth – no ultrasonic cleaners, alcohols, or harsh chemicals.

- Avoid knocks and bumps – particularly for rings or bracelets. Opals are best set in protective settings like bezels or used in earrings and pendants.

Doublets and triplets (opal slices reinforced with backing and clear caps) also require gentle care – never soak them in water, as moisture can creep between the layers.