Opal flashes with every color in the spectrum. Tap a marker to see where the fire comes from, and why it is the most delicate stone I set.
Opal
Tap a marker
No two opals flash the same way. Tap a marker on the stone to see what gives opal its color, what it is made of, and why it asks for such gentle handling.
1Play-of-Color. Those flashing patches of green, blue, and violet are play-of-color. Light bends as it passes through microscopic silica spheres stacked inside the stone, splitting into the spectrum. Red is the rarest flash of all.
2Silica & Water. Opal is hardened silica gel with water still trapped inside, sometimes up to a fifth of the stone. It never grew into a crystal, which makes it unlike any other gem you own.
3Delicate. At 5.5 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale, opal is soft and brittle. It can craze, a fine web of surface cracks, if it dries out or meets sudden heat. It is the most fragile stone I set.
Put it on with an open-neck shirt and this pastel multi-strand statement necklace becomes the whole outfit: layers of 14k gold-filled chain across the collarbone, broken at intervals by one-of-a-kind clusters of Australian opal, kunzite, morganite and pearls.
The palette runs through green amethyst, aqua hydro quartz, mystic prehnite, moonstone, yellow and blue aquamarine, spinel, topaz, Japanese Akoya keshi pearls, and green and gray sapphires, every stone set on recycled 14/20k gold-filled components along 14k gold-filled sequin and circle link chains. No single stone is the hero; the color is.
If a multi-strand necklace has ever bunched or gapped on you, here is what Andrea did about it. Each layer of chain was measured for its own drape across the collarbone and chest, and the clusters sit at intervals chosen so the strands flow instead of piling up. At the back, a gemstone cluster rests at the nape of the neck, a detail mostly you will know is there. The opal and the pearls are the delicate elements, so the whole necklace is cold-connected, assembled with wire and never with heat.
Akoya keshi pearls against mystic quartz, sculptural amethysts beside baroque pearls: this multi-chain gemstone drop necklace is built on contrast, with a one-of-a-kind abstract cluster at its heart, 18k gold vermeil leaves, and strands of recycled gold-filled chain that fall into an asymmetric drop.
Color leads the composition, not any single stone. The palette runs through pale amethyst, hydro quartz, Australian opal, moss aquamarine, aquamarine, ametrine, spinel, morganite, moonstone, topaz, kunzite, purple sapphire and mystic labradorite.
If an asymmetric necklace sounds like one that hangs lopsided, the asymmetry here was planned, not left to chance. Andrea assembled each section by balancing its weight, color and shape against the others, on recycled 14/20k gold-filled components with the vermeil leaves and chain, so the drop and the cluster sit where she placed them.
It was made to be worn on its own over a plain neckline, or with a gemstone cuff bracelet or companion earrings.
Made once by Andrea Li in Denver and never repeated: for anyone who would rather own one remarkable piece than a drawer of safe ones.
The first piece made for the Tamar collection, this pastel gemstone statement necklace is a one-of-a-kind asymmetric design on sequin and diamond-cut 14k gold-filled chains, with a Biwa pearl chain running through them.
Kunzite, mystic quartz, amethyst and gray sapphires gather at the center in an asymmetric flourish, and shimmering Australian opals sit along the chains. Pale amethyst, aquamarine, zircon, mystic labradorite and purple sapphire fill out the palette.
If "gold chains" makes you ask whether this is real gold, here is what it is made of. The sequin and diamond-cut chains and the Biwa pearl chain are 14k gold-filled, a bonded layer of real gold far thicker than plating, and the components are recycled 14/20k gold-filled. The 18k gold vermeil elements are gold over sterling silver, never over base metal.
It was made to be the only necklace you wear, over a plain neckline.
Made once by Andrea Li in her Denver studio, never repeated: for the person who values rarity in what they wear.
A concave-cut green amethyst at the end of a long drop is the point of this pastel gemstone drop necklace, a one-of-a-kind pendant on recycled 14k gold-filled paperclip and circle link chains. Its curved, scalloped facets catch the light as you move.
Above it, blue topaz carries the line down from a cluster of Japanese Akoya keshi pearls, Australian opal, yellow aquamarine, aquamarine, kunzite, pale amethyst, mystic quartz, and purple and gray sapphires, with gold U-shapes on either side.
If a cluster this full makes you wonder whether it will look busy, the palette is the answer: watery blues, soft greens and pale violet, every stone chosen for how it sits beside its neighbors rather than on its own. After living with the finished piece, Andrea added one slice of Australian opal with soft blue flashes to close the last gap in the cluster. Two more topaz sit where the chain turns around the neck, so the design carries all the way to where the necklace disappears from view.
Wear it with a crisp white shirt or a scoop neck, where the drop has room to fall.
A full pastel cluster of kunzite, Australian opal, aquamarine, morganite and spinel hangs below each of these gemstone dangle hoop earrings, so the color sits under the gold instead of crowding it. The hoops are 14k gold-filled wire (recycled 14/20k), formed by hand into delicate open circles.
They were made as a lighter echo of the pastel statement necklace in the same collection: the airy circles pick up the movement of its sequin chains, and the cluster hangs just below each hoop in a cleaner silhouette than a full cluster earring.
If you love opal but have heard it is delicate, earrings are one of the gentler places to wear it, because they hang suspended, away from the knocks a ring or bracelet takes. Each stone is crimped into place with wire guardians and crimp covers, which hold the cluster without adding visual weight.
Wear them with your hair pulled back and a plain neckline, and let the color do the talking.
One pair, made by Andrea Li in her Denver studio and never repeated: for the woman who leads all day and still wants to feel feminine.
No piercing is needed for this pair of opal ear cuffs with chains: each cuff is shaped to hug the ear, and a waterfall of 14k gold-filled sequin chains falls toward the jawline, catching the light with every turn.
The stones are Ethiopian opal rondelles, which flash pastel teal, blush and violet as you move. The wire components are recycled 14/20k gold-filled and the sequin chains are dapped 14k gold-filled, so every bit of metal is gold-filled rather than plated.
If you have wanted a gemstone ear cuff but wondered whether it will stay put without a piercing, the hold comes from the shape. Each cuff is structured to hug the ear rather than rely on a post, so it is made for an unpierced ear, with high impact and no commitment.
Wear one for asymmetry or both together, with your hair tucked back as the single bold note in an outfit, with the chains moving at the jawline.
Made once at Andrea Li's Denver bench and never repeated: for the one statement piece in a pared-back wardrobe.
A Field Guide to Fire, Water, and the Most Delicate Stone I Set
Opal does not behave like other gems. It never grew into a crystal, it still holds water inside it, and it flashes with every color in the spectrum from a body that can be milky white, glassy, or midnight black. It is the most beautiful stone I work with, and the one I break the most. Here is what opal actually is, the kinds you will meet, and how to live with a stone this delicate.
What gives opal its fire
Hold an opal to the light and tilt it, and you see patches of color flash and shift across the stone: green, blue, violet, sometimes a rare and prized red. That is called play-of-color, and it is opal's signature.
It happens because opal is built from millions of microscopic spheres of silica, stacked in an orderly grid. When light passes through that grid, it bends and splits into its component colors, the same way a film of oil or a butterfly wing throws color without holding any pigment. The size and spacing of the spheres decide which colors you see. Tiny spheres flash blue and violet; larger ones reach all the way to orange and red, which is why red play-of-color is the rarest.
Not every opal does this. Plain opal with no play-of-color is called potch, or common opal. The stones I set are precious opal, the ones that catch fire.
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It is the most beautiful stone I work with, and the one I break the most.
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The kinds of opal
Opal is really a family of stones, and they behave so differently they are almost separate gems.
Type
Body
What sets it apart
Australian / white / crystal
Light to translucent
The classic. Pastel flashes on a pale or glassy body. Generally stable, not hydrophane.
Black opal
Dark gray to black
The most prized. A dark body makes the play-of-color blaze. Most comes from Lightning Ridge, Australia.
Boulder opal
Thin opal on brown ironstone
The opal is left on its natural host rock, so the dark backing gives black-opal drama in thin natural seams.
Ethiopian / Welo
Honey to colorless, often very bright
Vivid and more affordable, but hydrophane: it drinks in water and can turn clear or change color when wet, then returns as it dries.
That last property has a name worth knowing. Hydrophane opal, which most Ethiopian Welo is, is porous enough to absorb water and even oils. Get it wet and it can go temporarily transparent or shift color, recovering only once it fully dries. It can also drink in lotions, perfume, or dye and hold a stain, so a hydrophane opal asks for more caution than a stable Australian stone.
01
The mostdelicatestone I set
I will be honest with you: opal is the stone I break more than any other. It is soft, between 5.5 and 6.5 on the Mohs scale, and it is brittle, so it has very little tolerance for stress at a single point.
This is also why you will not find opal in every collection I make. It currently lives in my Pastel collection and a few Signature pieces, but it is not a staple the way amethyst, aquamarine, or sapphire are. When I use opal, it is a deliberate choice for a stone that earns its fragility.
02
Caring foropal
Opal needs more gentleness than almost anything else you own.
Keep it away from all heat and from sudden changes in temperature, which can shock the stone and cause crazing, the fine network of surface cracks opal can develop. Never put opal in an ultrasonic or steam cleaner. Keep it away from harsh chemicals, and with hydrophane opal, away from prolonged soaking, perfume, and lotion.
To clean it, I use the same gentle process I recommend for all my pieces: warm water, a soft toothbrush, and a drop of Dawn to lift away oils and dust, then the polishing cloth tucked into every order to bring the metal back. No heat, no chemicals, no shortcuts. Treated kindly, an opal will hold its fire for generations.
03
Wearingopal
Opal is the October birthstone, which makes it a meaningful choice for an autumn birthday, and tradition has long linked it with imagination and individuality, fitting for a one-of-a-kind piece.
Because it is delicate, opal is happiest in pieces that live a gentler life: earrings, a pendant, a brooch, a ring saved for occasions rather than everyday knocks. If you are drawn to a stone that is genuinely unlike any other, that holds a whole spectrum in a single cabochon, opal is for you. No two ever flash the same way.
From the bench · Andrea Li
Just how fragile opal is, ranked against what I set next to it
A note from Andrea Li, who sets opal by hand in her Denver studio.
People lump opal and moonstone together as the delicate stones. They are not in the same league. Opal is by far the more fragile of the two. I only learned how fragile when I started working it regularly, and I broke dozens of opals making my Pastel collection before it sank in.
That cost changed how I build. Now I never set opal the way I set everything else. With most stones I wind a cluster tight, because the tension is what makes the structure stable. With opal I do the opposite on purpose: I do not fully tighten the cluster. I leave intentional empty spaces, finish the surrounding structure first, and then set each opal last, individually, by hand, so nothing around it can stress it as it goes in. It is slower, and it is the only way I have found to keep October's stone in one piece.
This one-of-a-kind Australian opal statement necklace is handmade by Andrea Li in her Denver studio: an asymmetric design built across multiple sterling silver chains and anchored by an Australian opal pendant.
Around the opal sits a hand-placed cluster of tanzanite, iolite, chalcedony, labradorite, mystic topaz, pink amethyst, natural sillimanite cat’s eye, purple amethyst, and pearl. The off-balance composition is intentional, designed to move and catch light from every angle. From the Signature Collection: built once, never replicated, never manufactured, made for a collector who wants something genuinely unrepeatable.
Opal is the most fragile stone I work with, and I learned that the hard way building my pastel collection, where I broke more than a few before I changed my approach. Now I set the opal last and seat it by hand, leaving deliberate give in the surrounding cluster so no single point of pressure ever reaches the stone. The whole necklace is cold-connected, assembled with wire and never with heat, which is what lets an opal anchor a piece this layered without putting the stone at risk.
One of a kind. When it sells, it’s gone. Explore more in the Signature Collection.
From the Signature Collection. A line born from pure artistic expression. Unbounded by rules or limitations of mass market appeal. These are meant for serious collectors. They are never to be replicated or manufactured. These works of art stand alone as originals. They are as authentic as their potential owners. These masterpieces require hours of intensive labor and thoughtful design. Each with a story unique to its development.
Your next heirloom piece awaits with my selection of unique wearable pieces of art. This Australian opal and gemstone cuff is an excellent piece of jewelry to add to your collection. It features a wide range of gemstones, including Australian opal, tanzanite, iolite, chalcedony, labradorite, mystic topaz, pink amethyst, Natural Sillimanite Cat's Eye, purple amethyst, and pearl.
A note from Andrea Li, who sets opal by hand in her Denver studio.
On the back of my work there is a weave, a web of wire I was told for years to hide and never could. It is the truest part of what I make, and I usually wind it tight, because the tension is what holds a cluster stable. Opal is the one stone that makes me set that tension down.
“
With opal I loosen the weave on purpose. It is the only way October's stone survives my hands.
People lump opal and moonstone together as the delicate stones. They are not in the same league. Opal is by far the more fragile of the two. I only learned how fragile when I started working it regularly, and I broke dozens of opals making my Pastel collection before it truly sank in.
So I changed how I build. With most stones I wind the cluster tight and let the tension do the work. With opal I do the opposite, on purpose. I do not fully tighten. I leave intentional empty spaces, finish the surrounding structure first, and set each opal last, by hand, so nothing around it can stress it as it goes in. It is slower, and it is the only way I keep October's stone whole. The weave still holds. It just learns, for this one stone, exactly where to loosen its grip.
Opal is hydrated silica, which means silica with water still trapped inside it, sometimes as much as twenty percent. Unlike most gems, it never formed a crystal. It is hardened silica gel, which is part of why it is both so unusual to look at and so delicate to wear.
What is play-of-color in an opal?
Play-of-color is the flashing, shifting patches of color you see when you tilt an opal. It is caused by light bending and splitting as it passes through microscopic spheres of silica stacked inside the stone. The spacing of those spheres decides which colors appear, with red being the rarest.
Why do opals crack or craze?
Opal can develop a fine network of surface cracks, called crazing, usually from drying out, from heat, or from a sudden change in temperature. It is also brittle and can chip or crack from a sharp knock or from stress at a single point. This is why opal should be kept from heat, ultrasonics, and impacts.
What is a black opal?
A black opal is an opal with a dark gray to black body tone. The dark background makes its play-of-color look especially vivid and electric, which is why black opal, most of it from Lightning Ridge in Australia, is the most prized and valuable type.
What is Ethiopian or Welo opal?
Ethiopian opal, much of it from the Welo region, is known for very bright, vivid play-of-color at a more accessible price. Most of it is hydrophane, meaning it absorbs water and can temporarily turn clear or change color when wet, returning to normal as it dries. It needs more careful handling than stable Australian opal.
Is opal too fragile to wear?
Opal is soft and brittle, but it is absolutely wearable with care. It does best in pieces that take fewer knocks, like earrings, pendants, and brooches, or rings worn for occasions. Keep it away from heat, ultrasonic cleaners, and hard impacts, and it will last for generations.
How do you clean opal jewelry?
Use only warm water, a soft toothbrush, and a drop of Dawn dish soap to remove oils and dust, then a soft polishing cloth for the metal. Never use heat, steam, ultrasonic cleaners, or harsh chemicals, and avoid soaking hydrophane opal for long.
What color is opal?
An opal's body can be milky white, glassy, honey, or dark gray to black, and precious opal flashes every color in the spectrum across it: green, blue, violet, and sometimes a rare red. The body tone sets how vividly that color reads, which is why a black opal blazes. When I choose opals at the Tucson Gem Show, I look for brilliancy, the most vibrant flash I can find.
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Put it on with an open-neck shirt and this pastel multi-strand statement necklace becomes the whole outfit: layers of 14k gold-filled chain across the collarbone, broken at intervals by one-of-a-kind clusters of Australian opal, kunzite, morganite and pearls.
The palette runs through green amethyst, aqua hydro quartz, mystic prehnite, moonstone, yellow and blue aquamarine, spinel, topaz, Japanese Akoya keshi pearls, and green and gray sapphires, every stone set on recycled 14/20k gold-filled components along 14k gold-filled sequin and circle link chains. No single stone is the hero; the color is.
If a multi-strand necklace has ever bunched or gapped on you, here is what Andrea did about it. Each layer of chain was measured for its own drape across the collarbone and chest, and the clusters sit at intervals chosen so the strands flow instead of piling up. At the back, a gemstone cluster rests at the nape of the neck, a detail mostly you will know is there. The opal and the pearls are the delicate elements, so the whole necklace is cold-connected, assembled with wire and never with heat.
One necklace, made once by Andrea Li in Denver and never repeated: for the collector who wants a piece no one else owns.