OPAL
Hand picked beautiful and unique Australian solid Opals set into South Australian made custom jewellery by Michelle Kennedy, Bluebell Design.
OPAL
HARDNESS: 5.5-6.5 (similar to glass)
LOCATION: Australia (Over 95% of the worlds Opal comes from Australia), Ethiopia
BIRTHSTONE MONTH: October
FACTS:
- Opal is made with a combination of water and silica (SiO2.nH20)
- The sparkle and glitter in Opals is known as ‘Play of Colour’ and is
caused by interference and diffraction of light passing through tiny silica spheres
- Opal forms from the silica that is created from water seeping through sandstone. The silica then flows into cracks and voids in rocks
- Forty meters below, a thickness of one centimetre of Opal has been estimated to take 5 million years to form and approx. 1 to 2 million years after, it has been said to solidify due to climate change
- The myth that Opals are unlucky comes from the novel ‘Anne of Geierstein’