Opals and Pins
 

Whenever a discussion of "what type of pin would you really love to own?" comes up (best thread here), there always seems to be quite a lot of people who say that they'd love to have opals on their pin. This never ceases to amaze me, as I always heard that

1) only people born in October should wear opals and

2) one should never, ever buy oneself an opal.

Am I the only one who ever heard this, or is the beauty of the opal just superseding the above traditions? Cost aside, would you purchase an opal pin for yourself?

I never heard the October part, but I have heard that you should never buy an opal for yourself - it should be given to you by someone who loves you. If not, it's bad luck.

If I wasn't superstitious I would have bought myself one a log time ago. :)

I heard all that too--and I have opals in my pin! But it's cool because I'm an October baby! :D

I've heard that opals bring bad luck to the wearer.

That's what I heard, with the exceptions I noted above.

didn't know about opal taboo
 

My husband bought me some opal earrings for our first christmas and I think they are beautiful but I didn't know much about them. After seeing this thread I am gonna google opal and see what I can find.

What are they? (showing how much I don't know) I thought they were some kind of pearl. But, I guess they are a gem. Sounds like it would look great on a badge.

I have never heard anything about them being bad luck, besides the fact that they're a very soft stone and are easily chipped, damaged, etc. When I was younger, opals were very popular among my group of friends, and we all begged our parents for opal rings. My mom was the only one who balked, b/c of above stated reasons. But I know quite a few people who buy them, and then coat the stone with clear fingernail polish, and never have a problem.

Now tiger's eye, I've heard supersitions associated with...

I think that the following are my favorite badges
1. Pi Phi's arrow...very unique and quite pretty
2. the quill ove Alpha Xi, also very unique
3. The Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma, an interesting shape/concept.

I'd love to have a badge of my org have pearls, black diamonds and rubies, all of which have significance. Buttttt..being local, its hard to do.

I'm surprised by how many sites don't mention the bad luck aspect of opals, especially since I've heard these all my life. Guess that's one of the downfalls of being Irish...

But on www.oldsuperstitions.com, I found this:
"Bad Luck: Unless you were born in October, the wearing of an Opal will be ill-fated."

I've always had a fascination with superstitions and what I've always heard opals were for tears.

They're still my favorite gemstone and I'd love to have jewelry with opals...but my badge only has one option: pearls. Still love it, though.

I am an October baby so I have a couple of opals, but I am so picky and its hard to find one that has such beautiful clear colors in it. I had an ex-boyfriend buy me a opal ring and I had to replace it TWICE. First because the opal fell out of the setting(I got it caught in the lint thing on the dryer) and the second time because I chipped the opal. They are very soft, and you have to take care with them. But its still my favorite stone, next to a diamond of course!;)

OPALS!:)

I have a LXA Badge with Opals. Have only seen one other, A Brother from My Chapter. I paid a pretty $ for it.

Opals are pretty unstable as a Gem. Hard to keep. Matched Opals wow!

If you see a Badge with Opals, it is worth some $$! Probably Old.

Bad Luck with Opals Bah Humbug, or BS.

Opals are Unique as to each one. To have a close matched set, Well, Awesome.:D

Truely, most people dont understand them!:(

You can get some great opals, set and unset, on eBay! I like to look at them--fire opals are gorgeous.

I have heard this woe ALL of my life. My mother is not born in October and has a beautiful ring. I always look to see if it is yet chipped!

I was always told that you must rub opals to deposit oils from your skin to keep them hydrated. Anyone else ever heard this?

Silver

YES!!!!!

They Do Dry Out and then will crack like an egg!:(

I saw this thread and ran to the other room to put on my opal earrings. I got worried that I wasnt wearing them enough.

Can you keep opal from drying out? (just by rubbing them?) Or, are they going to dry out no matter what you do?(so wear them and wear them often)

I too have heard my whole life that only people w/ October birthdays should wear opals. However, when I was younger and had first gotten my ears pierced, my mom bought me a pair of opal stud earrings. She told me it would be okay to wear them since they were a gift. I rarely wear them though, b/c I'm concerned it will bring bad luck! :p

My badge is white gold and is surrounded by opals. It is beautiful, and I've never seen another one like it. I also have an October birthday, so I guess its ok for me to wear :) .

My understanding is that the anti-opal superstition applies only to engagement rings. An opal engagement ring is bad luck unless the bride was born in October. The same is true of a pearl engagement ring - a pearl ring is bad luck unless the bride was born in June.

Other jewelry is ok. (I hope it's ok, as all AEPhi badges include 27 pearls, and I was not born in June!)

This is also how I've heard it. I adore opals; I think they're more beautiful than just about any other gemstone, and they are so much less expensive than rubies or diamonds. I was born in May, and I wear opal earrings without any hesitation.

One of my first rings given to me by my parents was a small opal ring. I treasured it so much.

I didn't know about the superstition with opals until I went to college. Wouldn't you know, the stone came out about a week or so later. :(

Yes. It's the same with pearls. You aren't supposed to get them wet, either.

Interesting that you say that! I just heard someone say that you should never borrow a pearl necklace from someone, that the pearls should have your own natural oils/scent to them. Of course, it could be pr from a jeweler, too!

I roomed with an Australian girl years ago. She rubbed hers with petroleum jelly periodically.

I have never heard any of this before! Wow, you learn something new every day! I do love opals, my mom has an amazing opal ring she bougt when she lived in Seattle back in the 70's. I am going to call her and tell her it needs to be hydrated. (I'm also going to steal it from her one of these days!)

Another way to keep them from drying out is to place them in a jewelry box near a small glass (like a shot glass) of water and keep the jewelry box in a cool place. If you've ever gone to Mexico, particularly to the better jewelry stores in Cabo, Cancun, Acapulco, etc., you'll see that they keep small shot glasses of water in the jewelry cases. It's actually good for all jewelry because it helps keep the air humid and the gems/stones hydrated.

This just made me think of the opal ring my mother gave me- it's beautiful but the opal is really loose in the setting. I should get that fixed, I love that ring.

I have a very unique necklace that belonged to my maternal grandmother. It has small silver "pistel" leaves holding a small glass orb that is filled with water and rough opal pieces. It's my favorite necklace ever, and I only get to wear it on very special occasions.

can org pins still be made with opals? like a "special order" maybe?

the only ones i've seen are on ebay and are dated long ago?

Let me get this straight -- you guys are so superstitious that you would refuse to wear a jewel you liked simply because there's a negative superstition associated with it? That's so weird to me. Granted, I'm not particularly superstitious, either, but . . . wow.

I found mine on ebay. I've never seen one in a catalog before.

No opaled badges in 2005
 

Sorry - you cannot buy opaled badges anymore. There was a trend of them pre-1900, in the 1930s and then again in the 1960s. They are fragile and in the case that one falls out - it is difficult to replace them. I have spoke to Bur Patt and Masters of Design and they will never be able to offer them again - the cost is prohibitive - the badges would be at least $500 each. As an alternative, if your group allows, you might consider turquoise which is also very nice. ZTA offers this through MOD and is lovely!

There is always ebay but if your group never offered badges other than pearls (like DDD, DPhiE, AEPhi etc), you aren't going to find opaled ones ever only in our dreams :)

Denise

sigma chi opal badge
 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting


speak of the devil

note reserve not met

Caring for Opals
 

Try this site:

http://www.opalsdownunder.com.au/articles/care.htm

Re: sigma chi opal badge
 

I allready think that the sigma chi badge is pretty neat looking, but that one is FANTASTIC....I'd love for it to sit right below my badge and just sparkle. But at any rate, that's a hot badge right there.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...953880429&rd=1

ooo sparkly...nice badge.

My mom said that her pin was made of Opals & Turquoise. She said when she moved one time years back it went missing. And she couldn't find it. I think she's tried to watch for ir on Ebay or something, with no luck...so if anyone sees one...her initials are on it

I'm assuming it's a Phi Mu pin?


Roughly a quarter of my chapter had opals or diamonds on their pins - either surrounding or the points. Yet, most of my chapter also had their birthstone in their pin somehow. The only opal pin owner whose birthday I can remember was born in December.

What's weird is that I'm not usually superstitious; well, not very. But I am superstitious about opals. My mother was born in October and inherited a HUGE opal ring (we're talking up to the knuckle here!), but it was from an aunt also born in October. I know that I won't inherit it, but I have a good idea that I know who will. It's one of the blue-pink ones, really amazing. *sigh*

Alas, my mom's badge was also stolen years ago... but that was also when I think I was not quite a year old, so I doubt it's survived long enough to make it onto ebay. Although I must admit, if I ever did find it, I'd raid my savings accounts to get it back for her. So if you see a plain silver KD badge from the Delta Sigma chapter, let me know.

My badge is opals and emeralds. I've wondered for years why opals are no longer available. Thanks for the info!

OK, after avoiding it for a while, I finally had to take a look at this thread.

I don't own any Opals, although I bought Mrs. DA a ring once with a couple of Opals in it because I also am an October baby, as was my late mother -- who was named Opal.