Opal, and how this works.

CATCHLIGHT is a personalized fine-jewelry studio based in Hong Kong. It works the other way round from most jewelry brands: instead of choosing a finished product, you choose a design and then choose the natural stone that goes into it — plus a short personal detail, such as a name or a date, if you want one.

Most pieces are built around natural opal set in 18K gold.

CATCHLIGHT is run from Hong Kong, where the studio and its founder, Emily, are based. Stones are selected individually before they are set.

Emily, the founder. She studied jewelry design, spent five years designing at one of China’s larger jewelry houses, and has worked with opal since 2016.

No. The designs are fixed and belong to the studio, which is what keeps proportions and finish consistent. What you choose is the stone, and the personal detail if you want one. You are not commissioning a new design from scratch.

Opal is silica that carries water inside it — typically a few per cent to around ten per cent of its weight. Microscopic silica spheres inside the stone sit in a regular lattice, and light bending through that lattice splits into colours: a flash of green, blue, pink or orange that shifts as you turn the stone. That effect is called play-of-colour.

Because the spheres settle differently in every stone, the pattern and the colours never repeat. Two opals cut from the same rough can look like strangers.

“Black opal” describes the body tone, not a black stone. Opal body tone is graded from N1 (darkest) to N9 (lightest), and black opal is N1–N4. A dark background makes the play-of-colour read as brighter — which is why black opal is the most sought-after, and the most expensive, opal there is.

Synthetic and imitation opals exist, and imitation glass or resin can photograph convincingly. Natural opal has an irregular, organic pattern; laboratory-grown opal tends toward a very regular, column-like flash. For anything expensive, the reliable answer is a report from a recognised gem laboratory. CATCHLIGHT sets natural opal and will state plainly what any given stone is.

Opal sits around 5.5–6.5 on the Mohs scale — softer than quartz, far softer than diamond — and it holds water, so it dislikes heat, dryness and chemicals.

In practice: pendants and earrings wear beautifully for decades, because they are rarely knocked. Rings take more punishment, and a bezel setting protects the stone far better than claws. Take opal jewelry off before swimming, showering, gardening or going to the gym.

Four things, roughly in this order:

• Play-of-colour — how bright, and how varied, the flash is.
• Pattern — harlequin, flash, pinfire and so on. A pattern you can see from across the room is a good sign.
• Body tone — a darker body tone makes the colour read stronger.
• Size and shape — in relation to the design the stone has to sit in.

Photographs are a starting point. Two stones with the same grading can feel completely different in the hand.

You tell us the design you like; we show you the stones available for that design; you choose one, and that specific stone is set. The piece you receive contains the stone you chose — not a different stone of the same grade.

Usually, yes. Short personal details — a name, a date, initials — can be added to most designs. Longer text is limited by the room a piece has, and since the finishing is done by hand, fewer characters generally look cleaner.

Because consistency is what makes a small brand worth returning to. Fixed designs mean proportions, settings and finish are settled and repeatable, while the variable is the stone. It also means nobody has to guess what a piece will look like before it exists.

Pieces are priced according to the stone that goes into them, so there is no single price. For current availability, pricing and lead times, email [email protected]. Every message is answered by the studio directly.

Wipe it with a soft, dry or barely damp cloth.

• Never use an ultrasonic cleaner, steam, or ammonia-based jewelry cleaner — none of them are safe for opal.
• Keep it away from prolonged heat and direct sun.
• Keep it away from cosmetics, perfume and hairspray. Put jewelry on last, once you are already dressed.
• Store opal separately from harder stones, in a soft pouch, so nothing scratches it.

No. Chlorine, salt water, soap and heat are all hard on opal. Take it off first.

Opal can craze — develop fine internal cracks — if it dries out or meets sudden heat, and prolonged direct sunlight can dull its colour. Looked after normally and set into a protective setting, a well-cut opal holds its colour for a lifetime.