ARE OPALS REALLY UNLUCKY?

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 9, 2 March 1925, Page 63

ARE OPALS REALLY UNLUCKY?

XJOW often the wearer of opals hears the exclamation, "You are very brave to wear those unlucky stones. I suppose you are not superstitious." There are many women who would rather go unadorned by jewels than put opals on their fingers or round their necks. This is really very strange and unreasonable, for in olden times the opal was regarded actually as the greatest talisman of all precious stones. It was the emblem of hope and thought to combine every virtue—both moral and healingof the other coloured gems. Among these is the cure of . diseases of the eye and power-, to render anyone invisible. In the East the efficacy of opals as charms against sickness is so great that they are used as amulets for this purpose. October's special gem, it. recalls, in its wonderful and varied play of colour, the glories of a bright autumnal day. It is only within the last two centuries that, for some reason or other, the opal has gained a name for being unlucky. Popular super-, stition declares it fatal to love and a sower of discord between lovers if set in an engagement ring, but this malign influence was not ascribed to the stone by the ancients, and is a comparatively modern slander.

lilac{&pals THE so-called black opals,, on the other hand, are always regarded as exceptionally lucky stones. In fact these beautiful jewels are thought by the superstitious to be emblematic of the good eye, as opposed to the evil eye. According, to the legend, Noah's special talisman in the ark was a wonderful black opal, and the alchemists of mediaeval times believed that, as the traditional "philosopher's stone," it possessed the virtue of manufacturing gold. Except, perhaps, pearls, opals require more care in the handling than any other jewels. They are very brittle and easily fractured in the process of cutting or setting, and owing to their extreme softness the polishing is a matter of time and care alone. All these characteristics make this the most difficult precious stone to imitate, and paste reproductions are seldom seen. This is probably the reason imitation opals are not worn to the extent of other paste jewels, and so overcome the prejudice against the real stones. One of the finest opals of modern times belonged to the Empress Josephine, and was known as the "Burning of Troy," from the innumerable flames which appeared to be blazing within its, depths.