Which Opal is best?

This question is always comes in mind when someone is going to purchase opals online and in the market. People are very unsure about the gemstone genuinity and originality, whether it will fulfill our objective of wearing the opal or not. In India, the opals are always worn for astrological point of view and the purchaser has so many beliefs before purchasing it.

As the gemstone market is now becoming very cluttered because of having treated and synthetic opal stones available in the market at a very cheap prices which misguides the customer. Ultimately making the customer less trustworthy about wearing gemstones because treated and synthetic stones never work in astrology. This misguidance raises a question mark in customer’s mind about working of opal on the planets in one’s horoscope.

Now we are going to discuss which opal is best in few aspects like for Astrology and for jewellery setting.

For Astrology-
As we know that the Opals works for Venus planet, whether It can be white milky opals or fire opals, both the types of opals work equally. But we assume that to wear a fire opal because inspite of Venus planet, the fire also works on the other planets and strengthen them. And also, it looks so flaunting and fascinating when studded in ring or pendant. As long as the fire will remain on the opal, longer will be the positive effects of it on our life.

Opal comes from the two major origins i.e. Australian Opal & Ethiopian Opal. 90% of the opal’s requirements are fulfilled by Australian mines in the World.

In case of Ethiopian Opals, The major downside is that it is hydrophane, meaning that it will readily absorb water and chemicals which makes it quite unstable. When just water is absorbed, the stones become almost completely transparent. The problem is that chemicals, dirt, and oils tend to cause permanent changes, staying in the stone once absorbed to cause clouding and loss of color play. Cracking and crazing can occur when the stone absorbs water, lowering its durability. It  is not possible to keep the opal away from water or oil after wearing it as a Opal ring or Opal pendant for the span of life.

But in case of Natural Australian Opals, the play of color on it will remain the same for the whole life whether contacted with water or oil or anything else. Australian opals are typically non-hydrophane, therefore non-porous and cannot soak up any water or other liquids. However, because they already contain about 5 to 6 percent of water, these stones don’t absorb water and therefore don’t get damaged by water. Australian opals are typically mined from deeper under the ground than Ethiopian opals.

Conclusion
Because Australia has the largest opal supply and a longer tradition of opal mining than Ethiopian Opals, Australian Opals are generally considered as more valuable and ‘better’ than Ethiopian opals.

So we would conclude that the Australian Opals are always best in Astrology. Our experience with Ethiopian opal suggests that it is not as durable and, as a result, not a good choice for most of the customers. We’ve had numerous customers that thought they have done a mistake in buying Ethiopian opals and looking for replacement of it with the Australian opals . We sell only Natural, Unheated and Untreated Australian opals, yet cases of customers looking for repair or replacement are just zero percent. And when it comes to appearance, there’s enough quality and variety available to us depending on the fire.

For Jewellery setting-
As the Australian opal is non-hydrophane and ever lasting play of color, making the jewelry shiner forever and will give positive effects to one’s life for a longer period of time when wearing it as a Opal ring or Opal pendant.

From the discussion above, it’s clear that Ethiopian opals are more fragile than Australian opals and require reasonable care to ensure that they last longer. They shouldn’t be subject to immersion in liquids, which can lead to permanent damage, discoloration, fading and cracking.

Sometimes Ethiopian opals can turn yellow or brown and lose their fire. This would probably happen because the stone has been allowed to absorb water, which may permanently affects its color and fire.

Having said that, opals in general are rather fragile stones, ranking at only 5.5 to 6.5 on the Mohr’s scale. They need to be given more care than harder, more durable gemstones like diamonds or sapphires.

Tips to care for an opal

It’s always a good idea to take off any opal jewelry when swimming, working out, doing outdoor activities or working with household detergents. Never clean an opal in an ultrasonic cleaner because this can cause the stone to fracture especially if it has crazing. The best way to clean an opal is with a mild liquid soap and a soft cloth or brush.