Silver opal necklace

Opal necklace in 925 thousandths silver. This modernist necklace is composed of a line-shaped plate in blackened silver with spots. In the center is an opal cabochon in a gilded silver setting (vermeil). The noble opal is transparent with luminous effects ranging from purple to blue, green and orange to yellow. The silver chain is fine and composed of fancy links. Czech jewel, Prague, circa 1960.

Hallmark 925, FHA hallmark, Czech guarantee hallmark

Length: 43 cm
Main pattern dimensions: 5.6cm x 4.3cm
Opal diameter: 4 mm

Note: the chain is adjustable using rings.

Weight: 8.08 gr

Gemology and beliefs point: there are several types of opal: noble opals and common opals. Noble opals, like this one, have plays of color due to light. It is composed of tiny aligned siliceous spheres of the same diameter. When the light hits the stone, and depending on the angle from which it is viewed, luminous plays dance on the surface of the opal. Common opal does not have luminous plays, these spherules are disordered, and of different diameters, the light will only give it a "milky" appearance. In the collective imagination, opal would have the ability to make invisible. Hence its designation of "patronus furum" (patron of thieves) at the end of the Middle Ages.