Quote:
Originally Posted by AOIIsilver
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
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I know the post I quoted is 6 years old, but I thought this was interesting. It didn't make sense to me at first (from a mineralogical point of view.) These must be synthetic opals that people have in their badges/jewelry because actual opal is just hydrated amorphous silica (like quartz except without a crystal structure). Synthetic opals can be porous, which would lead to cracking, whereas naturally occurring ones are not.