Here are some Opal Myths & Facts

If you get your Opal wet or clean it with water the Opal can be damaged and potentially crack.

This is a Myth. Opals can’t be damaged by water and actually are made up of around 5% water themselves. This question is normally caused because of Opal Doublets & Opal Triplets. These are Opals that have had manmade layers added to them. These can be damaged by water because if water gets between the layers they will eventually separate causing a cloudy look

The colour of the Opal can be enhanced with body heat.

Myth. Opal colours are independent of temperature, so you will not see any change in the colour by warming it in your hand for example.

Opals will crack very easily and are extremely fragile.

This is party fact. Opals are the most fragile of all gemstones and can crack if hit up against a hard surface, however they aren’t as fragile as a lot of people think. A good comparison is if you imagine that Opal is roughly the same hardness as glass. So it feels quite solid if your hand however if you dropped in from a semi-high height there is a good chance it would crack. If you use a little common sense then its easy for your Opals to live a long life.

Opals lose their shine over time and need to be re-polished.

This is a fact but not at a fast rate. Your Opal will easily last years & years before needing to be repolished. If you did want your stone to be polished again you should take it to a professional opal cutter who can normally get it done in a jiffy for a small fee.

Soaking my Opal in water will help restore its shine & lustre.

While soaking your Opal in water will temporarily make its colours look more impressive the effect won’t last unfortunately so this is a myth. To get a lasting effect you will need to have the Opal polished by a professional Opal cutter.

Opals are indestructible!

Well they are the tears of Zeus right. No this is far from the case and is a myth. Not only can Opals crack if dropped or hit against a hard surface, they can also expand & crack if exposed to extremely high temperatures, ie placing the opal directly over a flame.