The Amazing World of Opal
It’s October! This month we start to settle into Fall, with all of its changes—weather, daylight, and colors.
So If you love fall and all of its beautiful magical colors as much as I do, then you are going to love one of October’s birthstones—the Opal!
Like all of you October babies, each Opal is truly Unique in form, color and look.
Most opals will display a phenomena called Play-of-color which is the magnificent rainbow of light created inside and reflecting to your eye.
These colors are so pleasing to look at, that it inspires:
Love and Hope
Innocence and Purity
Luck and Happiness
This is why October is so lucky to have such a unique and phenomenal birthstone such as Opal.
How is Opal Unique?
Opals are amorphous, which mean they have no crystal structure and no chemical composition.
They are formed from submicroscopic silica spheres that bond together with water and additional silica to create spheres that stack together randomly or sometimes uniformly.
These spheres can be big or small and each one is uniquely structured creating a one of a kind opal. They are like snowflakes, each one is different.
The intensity and the colors you see depend upon the light refracting from the silica spheres.
The Colors you see depend on the size of the spheres:
Smaller sphere create blue colors
Larger spheres create orange and red.
The Intensity of color depends on how the spheres are arranged:
More uniform or grid-like the structure of the spheres are, the more intense the colors will appear.
Less uniform will result in “dead” areas or areas with no colors.
The opal with its rainbow colors is considered to hold within it all of the healing powers that the corresponding colored gemstone beholds making it very powerful in helping you emotionally, physical and spiritually.
Because each opal is created uniquely due to its arbitrary formation, there are many different types of Opals; each containing their own amazing healing powers.
What are the Types & How Can they Benefit you?
1. White Precious Opal –displays play of color or rainbow flashes against a light body color, usually
white, yellow or cream.
White Opals are the most common opals that you will see, especially in jewelry and for October birthstone.
They are considered the happiest of the Opals since they hold the elements of Fire & Light to illuminate and intensify all aspects of your emotions.
When you wear White Opal, it inspires you to be:
More Optimistic by creating a better mood
More imaginative and creative
More energetic due to its vibrating color energy
Able to identify and release old pain, fears, or anger and get over it quickly
Choose white opal if you need more joy and optimism.
2. Common Opal,” or “Potch” Opal-- has different body colors depending on where it is from, but does not have ANY play of color.
It lacks the rainbow phenomenon because it forms with spheres of unorderly sizes or stacking. It usually has a milky or pearly luster, known as “opalescence” and are semi translucent to opaque, so light does not show through them.
The common opal combines Earth and Water energies and is most beneficial for metaphysical purposes because they vibrate at a lower frequency.
When you wear Common Opal, you will feel a more gentle and nurturing support by:
Alleviating worry
Lessening chronic stress and depression
Aiding in sleeplessness and nightmares
Healing pain that you hold in your subconscious, that you may not be fully aware of. It helps bring that to light so that you can recognize it and overcome it.
Choose Common Opal to lower stress, alleviate depression and be more balanced & calm.
3. Fire Opal-- transparent to translucent with a body color of vivid red, orange or yellow, with or without play-of-color.
Fire Opal is most commonly mined in Mexico & typically called Mexican Fire Opal.
The elemental energy of Fire opal is Fire, so its powers are strong.
They are Ideal stones for business ventures and people that want to live by their own rules and make a mark in life.
Fire opal helps you to:
Awaken your deep inner passion
Align your emotions to the creative energy of the Universe and helps you communicate through artistic expression
Manifest money
Be more open to change which Motivates you to progress forward in your ambition
Be wary and Protect you against dangerous decisions
Become more optimistic, socially outgoing and confident
Fire opal is for you if you want more passion and independence, especially if you are starting a new business.
4. Boulder Opal-- precious opal attached to its host rock, usually ironstone or sandstone.
This Opal usually forms from its gel-like watery substance seeping through nooks and crannies of rocks. It can form in thin seems or cavities inside rocks and can be difficult to remove without breaking them. So instead of cutting the opal out, it is left attached to the host rock.
They typically come from Queensland, Australia.
Since the rock is part of the opal, each piece is unique and special, making it ideal for creating custom-made abstract pieces of jewelry.
The elements of Earth and Fire energies creates more balance and makes the wearer more grounded .
Boulder Opal will help:
Practical people develop their spiritual side and spiritual people be successful in being more practical
Bring clarity by helping you bring together your conscious and unconscious thoughts, so that you are more enlightened to your truth
Establish emotional security so that you can put down roots and settle down without losing your spirit of adventure, so really good for restless people
Overcome tough times and come out shining
Choose Boulder Opal if you need more spirituality or practicality, more clarity and more feelings of security & settled.
5. Precious Black Opal—has a dark body color, usually black or dark gray, deep blue or green which makes the iridescent play of color so much more intense.
The majority of Black Precious Opals come from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia and are the most famous and sought after Opals in the world.
Black Opal links the Root and Crown chakras connecting your spiritual ambitions to your physical body making it a powerful amplifier of your intentions and things you want to manifest.
When you wear Black opal, it helps you be:
Extremely lucky personally and spiritually.
More uplifted spiritually by bringing Light into your aura.
Less distressed by dissolving depression and hopelessness. It helps you face your darkest fears and release the blockages that are holding you back.
More attuned to the intention of others by giving you the power to read their eyes and see their truth.
Choose black opal if you need more luck and protection and to amplify your whole body intentions.
Who Opal Perfect For?
As you can see, there is an Opal for everyone, especially if you love transforming yourself & your look!
Opal is considered a “Transformer Crystal”.
It enhances your efforts to change your:
Situation
Prospects
Health
Outlook on life
Relationships
Transforming yourself in a positive light, creates a happier environment and motivates you to:
Search for more knowledge
Develop new skills
Have the strength to keep moving forward
So if you want to Transform and fill your entire being and aura with positivity, then wearing an Opal is Perfect for you.
Now let me show you how to Protect this precious stone and the Trendiest ways to harness these powers.
How to Care & Wear Opal
Opal is a stone that looks great in yellow, white gold or Platinum.
Opal is a soft stone with a 5.5 to 6.5 on the Moh's scale of hardness so it is best to wear Opal in pendants, earrings, or pins.
If you choose an Opal ring or bracelet, make sure it is in a protective setting, like a bezel or with stones surrounding it.
Or just be careful when wearing these jewelry types and take them off if you are doing physical activity.
Since Opal is made out of water, DO not leave it in sunlight or anywhere that could dry it out (even a bank vault). When an Opal dries, it will form "crazing lines" or cracks in the stone which will create durability problems.
Also, it is important to keep your Opals separated from diamonds and other jewelry to prevent scratching or chipping. I would recommend a soft pouch.
To clean an Opal, just use a soft cloth or toothbrush with lukewarm water and mild soap. Keep it away from any harsh chemicals, soaps, or abrasives.
And if you want to enhance the play-of-color, rub it with a little oil (this is the ONLY stone you can do this with!)
The Best ways to Add Opal Meaning & Benefits
1. Repurpose Opal Jewelry:
If you have some old jewelry with Opals around that you no longer wear, you can update into a new style or mix it with other old stones you may have.
A lot of Opals look amazing in antique style jewelry, however, some do not!
My client inherited this 1970's nugget style ring from her mother which was absolutely NOT her style.
She loved geometric styles, ear dangles and her mom.
She saw my "Journey Earrings" from my Connections Collection and loved them.
I drew up some sketches to customize the earrings by using the opals from her mother's ring and changed the top so everything dangles!
This is what she had to say about her NEW Journey Ear Dangles!
"Jennifer works with you every step of the way! The jewelry I had redesigned is beautiful. I wore it once and already received several compliments. Highly recommend Rejewelvenated Designs if you are looking for a unique gift with personality which will mean something special to you."
2. Custom Design:
If you LOVE Opal because it is your Birthstone or for the Color or for the Benefits, you can incorporate it into a design custom made, just for you!
This client LOVES celestial designs.
Opal is the PERFECT gemstone to add to a celestial design because of its beautiful phenomenal colors and its beneficial powers that comes from its ties to the universal elements of water, earth, fire, and light,
3. Family Jewelry:
The best part of birthstones is to commemorate your loved ones by creating a piece customized to the birth month of each family member. This can be in the form of rings, pendants, charms, or anything else you like.
You know what family jewelry looks like.
I want to show you my very first piece of jewelry that I ever made because the inspiration behind it is family.
This ring and my passion came from a mistake! I was attending a jewelry manufacturing program in GIA and my mother gave me a 14k puffed heart to fix the dent that was in it.
I polished it too much & it got worse (uh-oh!). So what to do? I didn't want my mother sad or disappointed.
So, I decided to melt the heart down & use it to create a handmade unique ring that incorporated my brother's birthstone--Opal with my birthstone--Amethyst.
When I gave it to her, she was so surprised and very happy! But, it didn't stop there.
My father also wanted me to get her a pave diamond heart necklace.
So happy ending!
Mom got a family ring and a new diamond heart pendant and I got a career and passion that I love!
So step into the Amazing World of Opal and enjoy all of its beauty and benefits for yourself!