The notion that the opal brings misfortune to the wearer is comparatively modern. Formerly, it was believed to possess great virtues as a talisman. In Ben Jonson’s “New Inn,” Ferret says:—
“No fern seed in my pocket; nor an opal
Wrapt in bay-leaf, in my left fist, to charm
Thine eyes withal.”
In Jonson’s and Shakespeare’s time, the opal was justly prized for its quick changes of color, exhibiting, as it does, almost all of the hues of the rainbow in rapid succession. It is quaintly described in an account of that day as “a precious stone of divers colors, wherein appeareth the fiery shining of the carbuncle, the purple color of the amethyst, and the green shew of the emerald, very strangely mixed.”
Quite naturally, dealers in gems have no patience with those superstitions unfavorable to the sale of their wares, although they show no particular dislike toward those of a different nature, if their sales are thereby increased. So when a customer asks for something synonymous with good luck, the obliging dealer usually offers him a moonstone, and after a little chaffering the buyer departs, possessed of a duly authenticated amulet, or charm. Agate is another stone having, by common fame, the property of insuring long life, health, and prosperity to the wearer. The present Emperor of Germany is said, on good authority, to affect this stone. Now the ancient magician, who sold charms and love-philters to love-lorn swains, did no more than this, with the difference that he pretended to endow his nostrums with their supernatural powers by his own arts.
Indeed, the very word “charms” so innocently given to a bunch of jingling objects dangling from the belt or watch-chain, is itself indicative of a superstitious origin, to say the least.
As an example of the change wrought by the tyrant fashion in the supposed attributes of certain gems, the ruby was formerly considered the correct thing for an engagement ring, but that stone is now almost wholly superseded by the diamond for that highly interesting event; though the ruby continues to be regarded as a valuable gift upon other occasions, and if of a fine quality, is much more costly than a diamond. Very possibly the familiar Biblical phrase, “for her price is far above rubies,” spoken of the truly virtuous woman in Proverbs, may have suggested the peculiar fitness of this gem in a promise of marriage. If so, we can only regret the substitution.
Perhaps the most plausible explanation given for the present popularity of the diamond—it must, however, be a solitaire of the purest water—is that, as the diamond is the most durable substance known, so it is hoped that it may symbolize an enduring affection between the contracting parties. Though in itself nothing but a symbol or sign, the gift of an engagement ring is considered as evidence in a breach of promise case, thus showing that the very ancient custom in use among princes or noble personages of sending their signet-rings with messages of high importance, to give credit to the messenger, lives on in the spirit, if not in the actual letter, of the law, as applied to the sacred pledge of fidelity to one’s promise to wed.
A very conscientious dealer once told me that if a young gentleman were to ask his advice concerning an engagement ring, he should dissuade the amorous youth from buying an emerald, on the ground that the young lady might regard it as a bad omen, possibly on account of its color which, as we have pointed out, is or was considered unlucky; but more probably, we think, because the emerald is said to be the chosen symbol of the “green-eyed monster,” jealousy. An old jeweller readily confirms the opinion that many young ladies would be unwilling to accept an emerald at such a time; while still another adds that he never knew of one being given as an engagement gift. The novelist Black makes use of this superstition in his “Three Feathers,” as something universally admitted, “for how,” he naïvely asks, “could any two people marry who had engaged themselves with an emerald ring?”
Doctors disagree, however, as to the actual properties of this beautiful gem, as well as in other things, for we find one authority saying that the emerald “discovers false witnesses, and ensures happiness in love and domestic felicity.”