Unlucky? The Deco jewellers who made this disagreed. Antique Art Deco Ring with Opal and Diamonds, 18K white gold
No. Opals are not bad luck, and the superstition is younger and sillier than the stone's critics think. For most of history the opal was considered exceptionally lucky, a stone containing the fire of every other gem. The bad-luck reputation is largely a nineteenth-century accident involving a bestselling novel, some trade rivalry and the stone's genuine fragility. Here is the actual story, and the care rules that matter more than any curse.
Where did the opal superstition come from?
Three tributaries. First, Sir Walter Scott's 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein, in which a character's enchanted opal loses its fire when touched by holy water, shortly before her death; readers took the fiction as folklore, and opal sales reportedly slumped for decades. Second, commerce: opals competed with diamonds, and the diamond trade had no reason to defend a rival stone's honor; whispered bad luck was convenient. Third, the stone itself: opals contain water and can craze or chip in careless settings, so jewellers of the era genuinely dreaded working them, and workshop dread became customer legend. None of it is a curse; all of it is history.
What did people believe about opals before that?
| Era | Belief |
|---|---|
| Ancient Rome | The luckiest of gems, carrying every color; Pliny praised it above most stones |
| Middle Ages | Called ophthalmios, the eye stone, guarding sight; believed to hold all gems' powers |
| Victorian era | Queen Victoria loved opals, wore and gifted them constantly, and single-handedly fought the novel's curse |
| Australia, from the 1870s | Black opal discoveries made the stone a national treasure, luck by definition |
Victoria's endorsement matters more than the myth: the era's ultimate taste-setter draped her daughters in opals precisely while the superstition circulated. The queen won; the whisper only survives as a question people ask before buying, which is why this article exists.
The play of color no other stone has. Natural Opal Bracelet, 1970s
Is there any truth behind the superstition?
Only the practical kernel: opals are delicate, and a stone that cracks after purchase feels like bad luck. Opal is amorphous silica holding a few percent water; it is soft by gem standards, dislikes sudden heat and dryness, and can craze, developing fine internal cracks, if abused. A Victorian buyer whose ring stone crazed had every reason to mutter about curses. Translate the curse into care instructions and it disappears: protect the stone and the luck takes care of itself.
How do you care for opal jewelry?
Gently and simply. Wear opal rings on gentle days, not to the gym or garden; the stone scratches and chips more easily than the quartz family. Keep opals away from strong heat and bone-dry storage, no radiators, no sealed dessicant boxes; ordinary room life suits them fine. Clean with nothing but a soft, barely damp cloth, never ultrasonic, never solvents, and never long soaks, especially on doublets and triplets, layered stones where water creeps between the glued layers. Stored padded and worn with a little thought, opals last generations, as every antique opal in my shop proves by existing.
Generations old and still full of fire. Vintage Opal Ring, 18K gold
Should you buy an antique opal?
If the play of color speaks to you, absolutely, and the superstition even works in your favor: opals price below what their beauty would otherwise command, partly because the old whisper still thins the buyer pool. Check condition with more care than usual, looking across the stone in raking light for crazing and at the edges for chips; ask whether the stone is solid opal or a doublet; and prefer protective settings, bezels and low profiles, for rings. An October birthday makes it a birthstone argument too. The only genuinely unlucky opal is the one left unworn in a drawer out of fear of a novel from 1829.
Frequently asked questions
Why do people say opals are bad luck?
Mostly a chain reaction from Walter Scott's 1829 novel, amplified by diamond-trade rivalry and the stone's fragility. Before that, opals were considered among the luckiest gems.
Is it bad luck to wear an opal if it is not your birthstone?
No. That extension of the myth appeared even later, conveniently narrowing opal buyers to October birthdays. Wear what you love; Queen Victoria did.
Do opals really crack easily?
They are more delicate than most gems: softish, water-bearing, and sensitive to knocks, heat and extreme dryness. Sensible wear and protective settings prevent nearly all trouble.
Can opals get wet?
Brief contact with water is harmless for solid opals; long soaks help nobody, and doublets and triplets must stay dry since moisture attacks the glue line between layers.
What is opal crazing?
A network of fine internal cracks caused by drying or shock. Check antique opals in raking light before buying; crazing does not heal and affects value substantially.
Are antique opals valuable?
Good ones, yes, and black opals especially; but the category prices below its beauty, partly thanks to the lingering myth, making opals one of the better-value antique stones.
Read next: Birthstones by month · How to clean antique jewelry safely · What is Victorian jewelry?
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