Know where your opal came from.

As we(jewelers) all know, diamonds are the hardest mineral known to man and is then followed by softer stones such as corundum and further down the Mohs scale to opals and emeralds. However, if a diamond is exposed to enough pressure, it can and will chip or break.

I mainly want to talk about the more unforgiving stones such as opal. Most opals are mined in parts of the world where explosives like dynamite are used to break apart mass amount of earth in order to expose precious gemstones. The problem with this is, the explosives used send vibrations though the earth up to hundreds of miles away which can make opals unstable.

Back in our earlier years of dealing with opal, my father had made an outstanding pendant for my mother which was an anniversary gift. The opal was around 8Ct's. and displayed a wide range of brilliant colors. Unfortunately, about 6-8 months after setting the opal, it developed a crack right down the middle of the stone. Knowing that the pendant was never dropped or mishandled, the only thing we concluded was that the opal was extremely unstable, most likely due to it being mined in an area where explosives were used.

The main thing I want to convey is know where your opal is coming from. Ask questions when purchasing opal jewelry. Knowing the origin of the stone and how long its been in the merchant's possession is a must.

Australian opals are extremely valuable due to the nature of how they are mined. They DO NOT use any blasting in their opal mining. Chisels and small drills are the extent of the mining in Australia. This is the one of the reasons for Australian opals being high in price; however, it's insurance that your stone won't develop any cracks down the road.

Jonas DeSantis