Why do opals change color?
Writing before his death in 79 A.D., the Roman Pliny wrote of the opal as “Having a refulgent fire of the ruby, the glorious purple of amethyst, the sea green of emerald, and all those colors glittering together mixed in an incredible way.”
The opal stone changes color with every shift of light, making it more rare than pearls and diamonds.
In Arabian folklore, it is said that the opal fell from heaven in flashes of lightning. But the real reason for the opal color change is based more in science.
Do you prefer maximalist designs or minimalist design?
Just like the creation of a rainbow, the diffraction of light is how an opal gets its color.
Opal is made up of water and silica, the main component in glass. Silica and water seeps into the gaps of the earth to begin the formation of opals. This combination of silica and water layered and layered together is the secret to opal’s color.
It takes about 5 to 6 million years to make a 1 cm opal mature.
Like a prism, the opal splits the white light into all the colors of the spectrum, the light bounces back out the top of the stone to get the beautiful colors (image above). Opal is the only know gemstone that is able to naturally diffract light. The diameter and spacing of the spheres controls the color range of an opal, which is why some opals may display only a blue color.
Large spheres in a regular pattern produce the color red, the rarest color.
Small spheres with irregular pattern produce opal of blue color only, the most common.
In Greek Opallios means “to see a color change.”
This pattern and arrangement of the color can take on various displays creating all the colors of the rainbow. The movement of color across the face of the stone is know as “play of color” or “flash.” Opal with lots of fire, is not a common term used among Australians or jewelers.
This highly unique and treasure of earth will continue to captivate us all.
Who we are
We know how it feels to see lots of jewelry that is pretty, but it all starts to look the same. Boring jewelry leaves you feeling uninspired.
We were gifted one Australian opal and since 2011 we’ve made thousands of opal jewelry pieces to become the experts in this wonderful stone.
We are Ryan and Chrissy Jones, a husband and wife team that designs and crafts the jewelry near the Gulf Coast of Texas. Ryan learned how to make jewelry to give me something as a reminder to look on the bright side. After our experience of wanting jewelry that’s art that you can wear, we knew we could share that with others.
See what people are saying!
“My rings came today. I love them! The opals have a lot of fire in them and my order arrived very quickly.”
~Rosemary from Beaufort, SC
“I just received mine, and am in love! The colors are eye-popping and the bands are comfortable! Beautiful work.”
~Kathleen from Tijeras, NM
“I’ve already worn all of my jewels. In fact, I’ve worn at least one if not two of them every day. Love, love, love them all!”
~Lori from Allen, TX
“Christine is such a likable person! She seems to care about what she sells and building relations.”
~Stephanie from Ridgeland, MS