The History and Meaning of Opal Jewellery
- David John
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
Some stones reflect the world as it is.
Opal reflects the world as it might be —
shifting skies, ancient oceans, dreams half-remembered.
It is not a gem of stillness, but of stories —
a flicker of color caught between rain and flame, never the same twice.
Where Opal is Found
Opal is born from water.
Long ago, rain soaked deep into the earth, slipping through cracks in rock —
and stayed.
Over time, that water hardened into light: silica spheres layered and stacked until, one day, color bloomed.
Today, opal is mined in Australia, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Brazil —
each region giving rise to its own kind of fire.
Australian opals dance with rolling rainbows.
Ethiopian opals flash with inner lightning.
No two opals are ever alike — each a private sky waiting to be seen.
The Flame Beneath the Surface
Hold an opal and you’ll see: it doesn’t glow. It shimmers.
Not all at once, but in glances — a flicker here, a pulse there.
It refuses to reveal itself completely. It waits for light, movement, attention.
Opal is not a gem that shouts. It murmurs.
And in that murmur, whole universes flicker to life.
The Myths That Hold Opal
To the ancient Bedouins, opals held lightning, fallen from the sky during storms.
In Aboriginal Australian legend, the Creator touched the earth with a rainbow — and where His foot landed, opals were born.
In Ancient Rome, opal was called opalus — “to see a change in color.”
Across cultures, opal was always more than beautiful.
It was seen as magic made visible.
The Spirit of Opal
Opal is the stone of the in-between:
between water and stone, between dream and waking.
It is the gem of the artist, the mystic, the feeler —
those who live not in absolutes, but in nuance.
It doesn’t ask for clarity.
It asks for presence.
For wonder.
The Shadow Side of Opal
Opal’s beauty is fragile —
it can dry, crack, lose its fire.
It teaches that wonder must be cared for.
That dreams, to survive, need not just vision — but tending.
It reminds us: what is most radiant is often most delicate.
Treat it gently. Treat yourself the same.
The Legacy of Opal
Queen Victoria adored opals, gifting them to her daughters.
Shakespeare called it the “queen of gems.”
In Middle Ages Europe, it was believed to hold the powers of every stone — because it carried every color.
Even now, opal remains the birthstone of October —
a reminder, in the season of renewal and rising warmth
that change itself can be beautiful.
Why Opal Jewellery Still Matters Today
Opal matters because imagination matters.
Because we need beauty that doesn’t fit in boxes —
that shifts, surprises, and whispers truths we didn’t know we were seeking.
When you wear opal jewellery, you carry a flicker of the unknown —
a glimmer of wonder, a memory of rain and fire.
Thank you for spending time with the stories behind what we create —
where meaning and memory live quietly in silver and stone.
Lali shapes the shimmer of the in-between —
for those who live not only in light, but in color, in nuance, in dream.
Wear the Wonder That Moves —
Want to explore the emotional journey of this stone?
Read The Journey Through Stillness, where Moonstone, Labradorite, Pearl, Opal, and Cubic Zirconia guide us inward and home again.
Read The Journey Into Desire, where Carnelian, Garnet, Opal, Tanzanite, and Turquoise awaken the courage to feel, to speak, and to become — flame by flame, truth by truth.
Comments