Opal is the birthstone for October and the anniversary gemstone for the 13th year of marriage. The irony is that during the 19th century, opals were believed to be bad luck. This superstition is thought to have started with the writer Sir Walter Scott. In 1829, the heroine of his novel Anne of Geierestein owned an opal that burned fiery red when she was angry and turned ashen gray upon her death. This stigmatism prevailed, almost destroying the opal market until Queen Victoria finally dispelled the curse by giving opal jewelry as gifts at a royal wedding. The opal’s popularity grew, and in the early 1900’s the Diamond Commission resurrected this rumor because now opals were preferred over diamonds for engagement rings.
Opal is mainly from Australia, but it also comes from Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Indonesia. Australian opal comes in three varieties: Crystal Opal, Boulder Opal and Black Opal.
Black Opal is only found at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Australia. This magnificent gemstone is the most valuable form of opal. Its dark background color, usually black or gray, sets the spectral colors ablaze much like a storm cloud behind a rainbow. Black Opal is so valuable that even wafer thin slices are made into doublets or triplets to give them enough strength and depth to set into gold rings and other jewelry items.
Boulder Opal is found in several mines
throughout Australia.The main ones are Coober Pedy, Andamooka and Mintabe. It’s very easy to distinguish Boulder Opal from other varieties; it always has ironstone on the back of it. Boulder opals are usually a blue/green color with sparks of red, yellow, orange or purple.
The third type of Australian Opal is crystal opal. It has a white body with a rainbow of complementary colors throughout. Crystal Opal is transparent and is pure opal (hydrated silica.) It typically has sharp clarity of diffracted color visible from within and on the surfaces of the stonel. When held out of the direct light, Crystal Opal displays
some of the most intense color. This is the type of opal used in inlay jewelry, which has the base of the setting blackened before the precision cut crystal opal is set into it.
Opal is a fragile stone because all opals contain water. The content varies but it can be as much as 30%. Over the course of time, the stone loses water, cracks and the opalescence diminishes. This also makes the stones sensitive to pressure and knocks. Opal jewelry (and all other jewelry for that matter) should be put on
AFTER using hairspray or perfumes, as the chemicals will break down the stone and caus
e it to lose its luster.
Opal's internal structure makes it diffract light; depending on the conditions in which it formed it can take on many colors. Opal ranges from clear through white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black. Of these hues, the reds against black are the most rare, whereas white and greens are the most common. Stones vary in optical density from opaque to semi-transparent. For gemstone use, a stone’s natural color is often enhanced by placing thin layers of opal on a darker underlying stone, like basalt.
Regardless of which type of opal you prefer, there is no other gemstone that displays such an intense array of colors and spectrums.
The Hall Sapphire Necklace (right) was designed by Harry Winston, Inc., and features thirty six matched Ceylon sapphires from Sri Lanka, surrounded by four hundred and thirty five white diamonds. That's right . . . four hundred and thirty five. The Hall Sapphire Necklace is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's American Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
Sapphire is also the traditional gift for a 5th or 45th wedding anniversary. (my advice? instead of celebrating a 25th anniversary with paltry silver, opt to celebrate five times your 5th and receive five sapphires) If somehow you make it to your 65th wedding anniversary, then the traditional gift is the rare and pleasantly peculiar star sapphire (left).
Amethyst is the birthstone for the month of February as well as the Zodiac stone for the constellation of Pisces. A gift of this deep, dark purple prismatic stone is symbolic of protection and the power to overcome difficulty. It is said to strengthen the bond in a love relationship, and is traditionally given as the anniversary gemstone for the 6th year of marriage (just when couples perhaps are in need something with these attributes?).
The ancient Greeks believed that this gemstone held many powers, among them protection against intoxication. In fact, the Greek word "amethystos" basically can be translated as "not drunken." This was due to a belief that amethyst would ward off the effects of alcohol, and it was common practice to serve fermented beverages from amethyst goblets in the belief that this would prevent overindulgence. I am making a mental note to remember to bring my amethyst goblet to next year’s Super Bowl party.
The color purple is traditionally the color of royalty and amethyst has 
been used throughout history to adorn the rich and powerful monarchs and rulers. The Royal Orb and Sceptre used in coronation ceremonies in the United Kingdom, Great Britian and Northern Ireland feature amethysts; the Orb (left) contains a large octagonal stone below its 365 diamond cross. One of the world’s largest amethysts is in the Sceptre (right), smack between a diamond encrusted cross and the world’s largest known diamond, the Star of Africa which weighs in at a mere 530 carats.
When visiting London in 2008, I had the pleasure of browsing through several vintage flea markets, especially in the prestigious Notting Hill neighborhood. It seemed everything old and British was for sale (well, not quite everything… the Queen was not being offered up for purchase). One of the things I really enjoyed sifting through were the stalls of old silver, which was generally for sale by weight instead of by piece, due to the current value of silver prices.
Still somewhat popular today, these rings are beautiful and reasonably easy to make. Two great websites with detailed instructions on how to make your own silver spoon ring as well as a list of materials and equipment you will need are at Essortment Hobbies and Ehow.
Opal is the birthstone for October and the anniversary gemstone for the 13th year of marriage. The irony is that during the 19th century, opals were believed to be bad luck. This superstition is thought to have started with the writer Sir Walter Scott. In 1829, the heroine of his novel Anne of Geierestein owned an opal that burned fiery red when she was angry and turned ashen gray upon her death. This stigmatism prevailed, almost destroying the opal market until Queen Victoria finally dispelled the curse by giving opal jewelry as gifts at a royal wedding. The opal’s popularity grew, and in the early 1900’s the Diamond Commission resurrected this rumor because now opals were preferred over diamonds for engagement rings.
Black Opal is only found at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Australia. This magnificent gemstone is the most valuable form of opal. Its dark background color, usually black or gray, sets the spectral colors ablaze much like a storm cloud behind a rainbow. Black Opal is so valuable that even wafer thin slices are made into doublets or triplets to give them enough strength and depth to set into gold rings and other jewelry items.
throughout Australia.The main ones are Coober Pedy, Andamooka and Mintabe. It’s very easy to distinguish Boulder Opal from other varieties; it always has ironstone on the back of it. Boulder opals are usually a blue/green color with sparks of red, yellow, orange or purple.
The third type of Australian Opal is crystal opal. It has a white body with a rainbow of complementary colors throughout. Crystal Opal is transparent and is pure opal (hydrated silica.) It typically has sharp clarity of diffracted color visible from within and on the surfaces of the stonel. When held out of the direct light, Crystal Opal displays some of the most intense color. This is the type of opal used in inlay jewelry, which has the base of the setting blackened before the precision cut crystal opal is set into it.
e it to lose its luster.
