Description
Platinum Black Opal Diamond Ring, Oval Lightning Ridge 1.70ctw, 46f/c .37 FG/VS2 “N”
How Opal Forms
Opal is known for its unique display of flashing rainbow colors called play-of-color. There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color, common opal does not.
Play-of-color occurs in precious opal because it’s made up of sub-microscopic spheres stacked in a grid-like pattern—like layers of Ping-Pong balls in a box. As the lightwaves travel between the spheres, the waves diffract, or bend. As they bend, they break up into the colors of the rainbow, called spectral colors. Play-of-color is the result.
Because opal has the colors of other gems, the Romans thought it was the most precious and powerful of all. The Bedouins believed that the colorful gems contained lightning and fell from the sky during thunderstorms. When Australia’s mines began to produce these gems commercially in the 1890s, it quickly became the world’s primary source for this October birthstone.
Want to see what your birthstone is? Check out our listing of the birthstones for each month.
We’d love to sparkle your jewelry as you shop. Please feel free to stop by our showroom in the heart of the Freeport, Maine stores, restaurants and unique shops to see this Black Opal ring and more. Or plan ahead and make an appointment to see us. We would love to prepare a selection of jewelry that interests you.