Opal- Hidden Wonders (with Precious Stones)

Opal- Hidden Wonders

 

Opal is an amazing precious stone! It is known for a “play-of-color” from being made of silica spheres trapped in up to 20% water. This Australian opal was formed millions of years ago when the sea receded and left silica-rich water to percolate into sedimentary rocks which then solidified and made opal deposits.

Opal was one of the first stones I cut when I was a 12 year old in South Korea. While I love the color, I also love the whole stone… the way the story of the stone is told by the color as part of the matrix. The matrix is the host rock, and is often soft and porous, which doesn’t polish as well as the fiery crystalline part, so I’ve sealed some of these with lacquer to bring out the color of the matrix after my initial polishing.

I cut and shape the opal with lapidary equipment, and no two pairs are alike. The backs of the earrings are reinforced with shellacked mica and finished with 23k gold leaf. The ear wires of the pairs without stones are gold filled, and those with extra gemstone elements are sterling silver plated with 18k gold (vermeil). They are left sterling where they rest in the ear, and they clip closed in the back.

Measurements are listed in the description for individual earrings.