"The
opal, when pure and uncut in its native rock," says Ruskin in his
lecture on Color, " presents the most lovely colors that can be seen in
the world, except those of clouds."
While
not all may share the great art critic's preference for uncut stones,
there are few probably who do not join heartily in admiration of the
brilliant gem from whose depths come welling up tints of so varied hue
that we appropriately speak of them as colors at play. Regarding these
colors Ruskin says further: " We have thus in nature, chiefly obtained
by crystalline conditions, a series of groups of entirely delicious
hues; and it is one of the best signs that the bodily system is in a
healthy state when we can see these clearly in their most delicate
tints, and enjoy them fully and simply with the kind of enjoyment that
children have in eating sweet things. I shall place a piece of rock
opal on the table in your working-room; and if on fine days you will
sometimes dip it in water, take it into sunÂshine, and examine it with
a lens of moderate power, you may always test your progress in
sensibility to color by the degree of pleasure it gives you."
The
opal is indeed one of the most fascinating of gems; yet often elusive,
and at times disappointing. Of its freaks and foibles strange stories
are told. Gems of brilliant quality sometimes lose their hues never to
regain them, and others previously dull and lusterless become radiant.
Professor Egleston, of New York City, once related that a bottle of cut
opals given him by a prominent jewelry firm because they had lost their
color, after remaining in his cabinet for a time regained their
brilliancy and retained it. But to have opals regain their color is,
unfortunately, far less usual than for them to lose it. The gem often
exhibits brilliant colors when wet either with water or oil that
disappear when it is dry. Taking advantage of this peculiarity
dishonest dealers often keep opals immersed until just before offering
them for sale. Purchasers of opals of this sort have good reason to
believe the superstition commonly attached to the opal that it is an
unlucky gem. Some authorities, however, trace the origin of the
superstition to Sir Walter Scott's novel "Anne
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