Pear Shape Opal Cabochon Pendant in 9 Carat Gold

This lovely pendant, made in 9 carat yellow gold, is set with a 7mm by 5mm light white opal and comes on an eighteen inch long 9 carat yellow gold chain.
Specifications 
Opal weight approximately - 0.49ct
Pendant length - 24mm including the bail 
Opal grade
Tone - N6
Classification - Fine
Transparency- Translucent 
Play of Colour 
Opal’s have a fascinating and unique optical feature called ‘play of colour’. Play of colour occurs because opal is made up of sub-microscopic spheres stacked in a grid-like pattern. This structure breaks up light into spectral colours and the colour you see depends on the size of the sphere. Those approximately 0.1 micron (one ten-millionth of a meter) in diameter produce violet and those approximately 0.2 microns in size produce red. 
No other gemstone duplicates opal’s combination of colour and phenomenon.
Care and Cleaning
Opal is a delicate gemstone, with a hardness rating of 5 to 6.5 and poor to fair toughness, we do not recommend that any opal jewellery be worn everyday. Opal’s can be scratched by other gemstones so make sure your opal jewellery is stored away from harder gems. 
 
Opal is a relatively stable gemstone, meaning it is not often effected by light, heat or chemicals but we would advice removing any opal jewellery before doing anything that may bring it into contact with intense heat or any chemicals. 
To prolog the life of the stones we always recommend that your earrings are put in after any hair products, makeup or perfumes are applied.  
 
Opals should not be steam or ultrasonic cleaned and harsh jewellery baths should not be used due to waxing, oiling and dying treatments that are regularly used on opals. To clean you opal jewellery at home we recommend a jewellery or gem cleaning cloth or warm soapy water and a soft brush. 
Education 
If you would like to learn more about gemstone treatments, what these treatments are and what they do, as well as which treatments are stable and how to look after gemstones with unstable treatments, please visit our education page.