Opal and garnet cluster ring

Opal and garnet cluster ring in rose gold 18 karats. A cabochon opal is set with 19 claws. This noble opal presents beautiful plays of color, from bright and luminous yellow, orange, to green, blue and purple. The opal is surrounded by 19 pink garnets. The contour of the ring head is decorated with striations. Ring from the middle of the 20th century.

Finger size: 46 EU or 3.75 US (can be resized)

Dimensions of the ring head: 1.4 cm x 1.2 cm

Estimated weight of the opal: 1.45 ct

Condition: wears

Weight: 2.86 gr

Gemology point and beliefs: there are several types of opals: the noble opals and the common opals. The noble opals, like this one, have a play of colour due to the light. It is composed of tiny siliceous spheres of the same diameter, and in a very regular array. When white light hits the stone it diffracts. Depending on the angle from which it is viewed, the opal’s surface shows the play of colors. The common opal does not have this luminous effect, because their spherules are disordered and of different diameters so the light will only give it a “milky” aspect. In the collective imagination, the opal would have the capacity to make invisible. Hence its designation of “patronus furum” (patron saint of thieves) at the end of the Middle Ages.

*The antique box is not sold with the jewel*