We have written about all sorts of jeweled crowns here at ferrebeekeeper (I particularly like spinels and aquamarines), but we have avoided taking about the gemstone which is most often reputed to be accursed–the chaotic & iridescent opal! Can you imagine a cursed opal tiara? That sounds like it could be the McGuffin at the center of a sprawling fantasy epic…or at least a prop in a cozy mystery set in a sprawling manor somewhere. Yet sadly, when I went online and started poking around, opal crowns (and crown-adjacent aristocratic headdresses) seemed a great deal less accursed than folklore would make them sound.
Whatever your thoughts about this superstition, opal headdresses are certainly beautiful. Here is a little gallery of opal tiaras, diadems, coronets, and crowns. Look at the beguiling rainbow of mysterious supernatural stones…
Perhaps opal tiaras are just rare. It has been speculated that the reason opals are reputed to be cursed is because they are fragile. Trapped water inside of amorphous silica is what gives opals their “fire” but it also makes them prone to unexpectedly breaking. Semi-precious jade has a similar problem, but jade sellers solved the problem by creating their own myth–that if your jade talisman or jewelry cracks, it has absorbed a dreadful misfortune aimed at the wearer. Now that is how you do marketing.
Alas, the finest opals are more expensive than jade, and if you spend a king’s ransom on a glittering stone that unexpectedly blows apart into sand and jagged glassy pebbles, it is probably hard to see it as anything other than a curse.
These worries however are for the jewel buying class. We can simply enjoy these opal pieces without worrying about them breaking. Ahhhh, isn’t it delightful not to be overly burdened with fragile costly gemstones?
ferrebeekeeper 
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July 18, 2020 at 12:23 AM
Neomys Sapiens
It is also quite hard to find ones that will live up to ones expectations after you have seen the few really showy ones. It took me around 2 years to find a piece of opal jewellery which I deemed funky enough for my ex-companion. A lot of them are quite dull and often lighted up artifially on depictions. But aaaah…when they are really shiny.
Btw, nice to see you still going! Will read a bit though the backlog now.
July 20, 2020 at 8:21 PM
Wayne
Welcome back, Neomys! I am glad you are well and I hope you were having lovely adventures. Apparently Bigfoot threw some opal ore at my uncle once, (but it was back during the 70s and it was probably just the violinist from “Kansas” roaming around Idaho in a big hairy tweed greatcoat).
July 29, 2020 at 7:35 AM
Leigh Williams
How delightful to chance upon your post uniting two of my favorite things, opals and tiaras! I foresee a pleasant late-summer jaunt through your blog – and it I find another opal tiara, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Best wishes,
Leigh
July 30, 2020 at 12:30 PM
Wayne
There are plenty of tiaras back in the archives, but I need to blog more about glittering iridescent things. The world needs more opalescence!