The Opal mutation occurred in 1992 in a laboratory in Canada from wild caught Campbells stock obtained by Katherine Wynne-Edwards. One male and one female from a litter born within the laboratory on 7th March 1992 were passed to a hamster fancier in the USA and the mutation was established and distributed to other hamster fanciers within the USA, and later to fanciers in other countries.

The Opal has a distinctive blue-grey coat on the top and sides and the roots of the hairs are grey. There is a soft grey stripe along the spine and the belly is ivory in colour. There are three arches on the side separating the top blue-grey colour from the ivory belly colour and these arches tend to have distinct cream tinge to them. The eyes are black and the ears dark grey.

The Opal can be combined with any pattern and coat type to produce Opal Satin, Opal Platinum, etc.