How do I care for an opal bracelet?

By Ann Bishop

If you are lucky enough to have an opal bracelet, you will want to know how to care for it properly. Here's how...

A beautiful and valuable addition to any collection of jewelry is an opal bracelet. Opals are wonderfully colorful, but if you do not know how to care for them you will not have a beautiful piece for long! There are many things to remember about the opal bracelet.

Opals are a special stone because most of them are not cut the way most other stones are cut. When opals are mined, the miners take special care because of the way an opal is created. This adds their beauty and their value.

The stones of an opal bracelet are very colorful, with a different sort of color combination if they are black opals or white opals. Either way, opals have a wonderful play of color that seems to be just below the surface of the stone. The color comes from moisture stuck inside the stone.

The stones of an opal bracelet are polished in such a way that they do not often crack. If these stones were to crack, the color will slowly seep out of them, which will not make a very beautiful bracelet.

An opal bracelet can have as few as one opal or as many as twenty, depending on the style and size. Each opal needs to be treated with care and respect because they are fragile stones. It is not a good idea to wear an opal bracelet twenty-four seven because the oils in your skin will damage the stones. Wearing the opal bracelet for special occasions and the like is fine, as long as you do not forget you are wearing it.

The bracelet should not be immersed in liquids, either because this does damage in the same way the oils in your skin. When you are finished wearing your opal bracelet for the evening, it is smart to let it air out and dry.

Opal Bracelet Resources

Encyclopedia of Gemstones - Everything you always wanted to know about opals, but were afraid to ask.

mySimon - Shop and compare 297 opal bracelets.

If your opal bracelet does get dirty somehow, you will want to clean it. To take a toothbrush and cup of water to it might damage it, even though this method works well with other pieces of jewelry.

Sometimes there are jewelry cleaners that work especially well with pieces like an opal bracelet. If you are worried about cleaning your bracelet, you might want to take it to a professional jewelry maker and ask them about cleaning your bracelet. This way you know it will be cleaned right, without damage done to your bracelet.

Using only a few steps, it is easy to care for your opal bracelet. As long as your opals do not crack, you will have a beautiful and valuable heirloom to pass along to someone else.

How do I shop for a birthstone bracelet? - A birthstone bracelet is a very important piece of jewerly. Here's how to shop for one so you will be pleased with your choice.

Ann Bishop is a free lance writer. Many of her articles are about jewelry as she grew up in a jewerly store environment. She is a frequent contributor to http://www.thankyouforasking.com.

Header graphic courtesy of Digital Westex Gallary

Home | Site Map | About