What a stunning gemstone October's birthstone opal is! I would love to create something unique and original with some of the beautiful boulder opals, hopefully one day I will, I have in mind a way of working with them but I think I should perhaps experiment first with some other gemstones beforehand. So maybe this time next year I will have some in my collection. In the meantime I do have these beautiful pieces listed on my website just in time for October made with beautiful soft pale aqua coloured Peruvian Opal beads. The crocheted wave necklace has been made using silver plate wire and has tiny glass beads to compliment the opals. The whole design is random from the positioning of the swirling twists of wire to the spacing of the opal beads and I love the combination of the glass pearls with the opals on the earrings. All the earrings have sterling silver earhooks.
For those who are wanting a bit more detail about opal here goes.
Opal is a form of silica and can be found in several kinds of mainly sedimentary rock such as sandstones, mudstones, or certain igneous rocks including basalt, rhyolite, It comes in a whole range of colours from colourless to black and everything in between. It hardness is 5.5 - 6 on the Mohs scale.
Opal can be classed under two categories precious and common, basically the precious opals are the ones that have those stunning flashes of iridescent light as they are turned, They cover the whole colour spectrum from clear and white to black, with black being the rarest and most desirable form, with the whole rainbow of colours included. Their colour and overall appearance, whether they are transparent, translucent or opaque is dependent on the conditions these opals were formed.
My opal beads I have used in the jewellery shown above are of the common variety. They are a milky aqua blue colour.
Although historically Opals are associated with sadness they are considered by some to represent hope, innocence and purity, it is thought of as an emotional stone drawing on the mood the of the wearer and intensifying their emotions, by releasing inhibitions as well as encouraging both freedom and independence and is said to bring the wearer loyalty, faithfulness, creativity and spontaneity.
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