The Bowerbird Guide to Opals

Opal is one of the most popular gemstones found in our range of gorgeous jewellery here at Bowerbird Jewels. With its myriad of colours and patterns available, it’s always in style and totally on trend.

Opal is unique not only for the makeup of the stone and it’s shifting hues and tones, but also it’s unusual properties including allowing you to sift through emotions and discard what you don’t need anymore, and boosting feelings of balance and peace. In some of our most popular designs, including our Moonglow Pendant, we select a gorgeous transparent Opal known as a Welo Opal, which is only found in the northern part of Ethiopia.

While we love our Opals, they do require some really specific care to keep them flashing and shining their absolute brightest. Unlike any of our precious metal jewellery, we DON’T recommend you wear your opal rings every day and in water. Opal is a natural class, and as such is very soft – only a 5.0-6.5 on the MOHs hardness scale (of which a diamond is 10 – so they’re half as hard as a diamond). This means that your opal can easily be scratched, cracked or broken with improper care.

Opals are also a hydrophane, which means they absorb water, just like a sponge does, and so if you leave your opals exposed to water for too long, through swimming or showering, additional water absorption means that the Opal will lose their unique colour and fiery nature. Don’t be too alarmed, if you’ve gotten caught out in a rain storm and your opal has gotten wet it will return to its natural colour if you let it dry properly for a week – however, this hydrating and redrying process can cause cracks if done too regularly.

So here’s our top 6 tips to care for your Opal Jewellery to ensure it keeps its uniqueness for years to come.

Top 6 Tips to look after your opal jewellery

1. Try to avoid getting your opals wet and take your jewellery off after wearing to allow them to air dry naturally, away from sunlight.
2. Avoid extreme changes in temperature - this will prevent any cracking that could occur
3. Take your jewellery off before exercising or doing any strenuous activity to avoid knocking your opals and potentially scratching them.
4. Avoid wearing your opals around any harsh liquid chemicals (like dishwashing detergent or chemical cleaners) because, like water, they too can be absorbed into the stone.
5. Always store your opal jewellery in a jewellery box away from humidity and other gems which can scratch them.
6. Wipe your opals over with a microfibre cloth if they are looking dull or greasy, never immerse them in hot water or an ultrasonic cleaner.

If you’re loving your opals in this season of life or could use a little more balance and peach, check out our complete range of Opal Gemstone Jewellery on the website today.