27 Opal Engagement Rings: The Queen of Gems

These days, brides-to-be are looking towards unique ring designs to celebrate their commitment. Traditional diamonds are taking a backseat to other gemstone and precious metal options. Professionally cut or raw and rugged, these luminous beauties are showing up on a lot of ring fingers!

Fair warning: Although we love the look of opals for a ring, they are a very fragile stone at a hardness of 5-6.5 on the Moh’s scale (check out this article on gemstones that we wrote for more information on Moh’s scale for engagement rings). For that reason, it is difficult for us to recommend an opal engagement ring that’s worn everyday.

If you have your heart set on an opal stone, there’s nothing wrong with that. We simply love opals too — you could get yourself a pair of nice opal earrings as a gift!

As far as buying an opal engagement ring, the best advice I can give you is to shop around to pick a ring design that protects the stone as much as possible. Try not to set your expectations too high for durability. There’s a reason that diamonds are a frequent stone in engagement rings – they are extremely hard and durable.

Why Choose an Opal Engagement Ring?

There are a lot of great reasons to consider an opal gemstone instead of a more traditional diamond. For one, opals are more cost-effective than diamonds. They also make a gorgeous statement. Buyers get an elegant and dazzling ring for half the cost of what would be paid to traditional jewelers.

Speaking of traditional jewelers, there’s an important sustainability reason to consider this diamond alternative. Certain regions in the world control diamond mines with violence, child labor, extreme poverty and environmental harm. Although certain processes certify some diamonds as conflict free, you can do humanity and the environment a favor by choosing an alternative stone for your engagement ring.

Not to mention, opals are unique! They come in a variety of colors and cuts that really speak about you as an individual. Buying an opal engagement ring celebrates the unique qualities of your love for your partner.

Opal History: “Queen of Gems”

Shakespeare famously described the opal as the ‘queen of gems’ and ‘a miracle’. Throughout history, the precious gem has shown up in works of art, historical documents, and addorning notable persons. The ancient Mayans and Aztecs mined the Mexican fire opal. Both cultures crafted artifacts out of the “stone of the bird of paradise.”

Opals were considered incredibly precious by the Romans and Europeans throughout the Middle Ages. In fact, the Romans considered opals to be the most valuable gemstone available. British Queen Victoria loved to wear opals as her gem of choice, and frequently gifted them to family members.

27 Gorgeous Opal Engagement Rings

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