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The Most Spectacular, Precious, and Magical Beauty of Stones: The Magnificent Opal

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The opal is a gem of magical beauty; in its depths flash brilliant sparks of constantly changing colors that have entranced and fascinated people for centuries. Considered by many to be the most precious of stones, the opal is also the most fragile, and it’s sensitively to light, atmosphere, and temperature has given it an air of unpredictable that has added to its appeal.

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But despite its unique properties – or perhaps because of them – the opal, more than any other stone, has inspired bigotry and superstition. Over the centuries it has waxed and waned in public favor, being viewed alternately as a charm for good luck and as an object of fear and dread.

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Opals come in many colors and varieties. Of these, the best known are the white, or light colored; the black, or dark colored; the harlequin, or multicolored opal; and the spectacular, reddish tinged fire opal.

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Although once mined exclusively mined exclusively in Hungary, today opals usually come from Australia and Mexico. They are found in the scams of volcanic rock, into which they are originally flowed as part of a boiling silica-water solution eventually cooled and “opalized,” or hardened into stones.

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The natural brittleness of opals means that they can be splintered or fractured during cutting. Some believe that the misfortune bestowed on jewelers who damaged them may have been the basis of the prejudice against the precious stones.

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Natural Splendor: Today are mined almost exclusively in Australia and Mexico, where they are found as natural deposits in the lining of cracks in volcanic rock (at right). Throughout history the opal has been highly prized for its infinite range of colors. Below: Two examples of these magnificent hues.

Changing Fortunes

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At first opal was considered to be lucky gem with healing powers. As long ago as the sixth century B.C, ancient Greeks believed that it endowed its wearer with foresight and version. For the Romans, on the other hand, the opal represented majesty and power. According to legend, in the first century B.C., a Roman senator, Nonius, chose to be exiled rather than hand over to Mark Anthony a ring containing an opal.

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The favorable reputation of the opal continued until well into medieval times, when it was regards as a protection against ailments of the eyes and heart, and against diseases such as cholera.

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The stories of ill omen began in the 11th century when Robert and Devil, the father of William the Conqueror, claimed that the opal gave him magical evil powers. Robert also maintained that he was the son of the devil, who had bought his mother’s favors with an opal stone.

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The idea that the opal was evil gained currency in the 14th century at the time that thousands were dying of the Black Death. The opal was a favorite with Italian jewelers, who used it in their work. In Venice, where the plague was particularly virulent, it was observed that the stones became more brilliant when their wearers contracted the disease, but dulled when the afflicted persons died.

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From then on, opals were associated with death and came to be regarded with dread. In those days, of coarse, it was not known that the changes in body temperature, which inevitably affect the stone’s brilliant luster.

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Opals also had a poor reputation in the 17th century court of the French king Louis XIV, where the royal coaches were named for gemstones. The driver of the “opal” was a drunk – therefore, that coach was considered unlucky.

The Final Blow

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Perhaps the greatest damage to the opal’s reputation occurred in 1829 with the publication of Anne of Geierstein by Sir Waher Scott. In the story, the baroness of Arnheim, mother of the heroine, wore an opal and would not cross her brow with holly water because she wanted no water to come near it.

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When rumors grew that it was God Himself that she feared, her husband flicked a few drops of holy water on her forehead as a test. Some of the water dropped on the opal, which “became the instant afterwards light-less and colorless as a common pebble.” The baroness fainted and was carried to her room. Two hours later nothing was left of her but a pile of light gray ashes. Although this was pure fiction, it is said that the value of the stone decreased by as much as 50 percent after Scott’s novel published.

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The fate of the 19 th century Spanish royal family further added to the opal’s unpopularity. A former mistress gave Alfonso XII an opal forget that the time a cholera epidemic was raging in Spain; more than 100,000 people died of the disease during the summer and autumn of 1885, when the Spanish royal family suffered so many deaths.

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The English royal family, however, did not share the Spanish doubts about the opal: Queen Victoria claimed that the opal was her favorite jewel. Its popularity was confirmed by another member of the English aristocracy, Lord Redesdale of Northumberland.

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In 1874 the peer was persuaded to buy a black opal by a friend who assured him that it would bring him luck. When Redesdale made the purchase, his friend told him that e would receive a favorable letter within 10 days. Before the time was up Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli sent Redesdale a letter asking him to join the government.

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Today the opal is a popular gemstone, widely used in rings and other items of jewelry. Few people are aware of its turbulent history.