[Jewelry making - Article 00512] - Re: [Orchid] Opals are bad luck myth

[Douglas Turet]

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>     I heard, like the opals are very fragile and could break when
>     manipulated them; bench jewelers invented the bad luck myth to
>     avoid setting them." 

    Hi Adriana, Actually, believe it or not, the whole Opals-as-bad-luck
    myth got it's start about 300 years ago, when a "novelist" famous
    for the equivalent of dime store romance novels (Sir Walter Scott, I
    believe) wrote a widely-read piece of rubbish called either "Anne of
    Gierstein" or "The Legend of ..." (I don't recall which). Prior to
    that, as Pliny the Elder wrote, Opals were seen as "the Queen of all
    gems, vastly superior to all others because, in the Opal are the
    colors of all other stones" (I'm paraphrasing Pliny, but that was
    the gist of it). 

    Anyhow, as the story of Anne develops, she's an illegitimate child
    who's unfortunately been marked for life, as a result of her
    philandering father's ways, and subsequently becomes the recipient
    of a witches' curse (like I said, great writing, here...), through
    which she's forced to wear a magical Opal brooch from early
    childhood until adulthood. This Opal, according to the book, had
    fire which mirrored Anne's moodswings, such that the Opal glowed
    brightly when she was happy, but "shot out baleful sparks of colour"
    when she was angry or melancholy. (Aha: our plot thickens!) Pivotal
    to the tale, Anne was specifically ordered _never_ to allow water to
    come in contact with either her own body or that of the Opal... "or
    else". As the story progressed, Anne was swept off her feet by a
    handsome prince, who asked for and received her hand in marriage,
    BUT... while at the altar, the priest accidentally sprinkled his
    Holy Water on both Anne and her magical Opal, which apparently shot
    out it's "most baleful spark" ever, then went colorless! Suddenly,
    Anne passed out and collapsed, whereupon her groom and handmaidens
    carted her off to a side chamber, to rest. When they returned,
    several minutes later, all that remained of either Anne or the Opal
    were her clothes and a small pile of ashes! 

    Like I'd said when I began the retelling of this "legend", it's
    pretty far-fetched stuff, by today's standards -- a real "believe it
    or not" story. Unfortunately, the ladies of the 17th century weren't
    quite as well educated or worldly as those of today, so a great many
    of them took this book at face value, and the Opal immediately fell
    out of favor. Ironically, since this "tragic tale" became a
    best-seller at just about the same time as the original
    (comparatively, rather dull) European sources for precious Opal
    played out, but before the Australian finds were discovered, there
    weren't many reasons to argue the book's point (other than its
    blatant stupidity). All of which may go a long way towards
    explaining the uphill battle that fine Opal miners still face, on
    occasion, when trying to market their goods. It's absolutely
    ridiculous, but that's the reasonably unvarnished -- except by
    memory's tricks, since I haven't read that book in over 25 years --
    and historically true reason behind Opal's lack of popularity! 

Go figurAll my best,
Doug
Douglas Turet, GJ
Lapidary Artist, Designer & Goldsmith
Turet Design
P.O. Box 162
Arlington, MA 02476
Tel. (617) 325-5328
eFax (928) 222-0815
anotherbrightidea AT hotmail.com

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