Opal Jewelry

Natural Opal Jewelry

Opal’s shifting play of kaleidoscopic colors is unlike any other gem. Opal is is the October Birthstone and the 14th wedding anniversary gemstone. This gemstone is associated with the ♎︎ Libra Zodiac Sign and the Year of the Snake.

Opals colors

Opal colors: Colorless, white, yellow, red, orange, green, brown, black, blue, pink. Opal’s shifting play of kaleidoscopic colors is unlike any other gem.

The rarest fire opal is the red crystal, which is the most valuable.

Opal is a gemstone that is captivated by its unique optical characteristics. When viewed from different directions, Opal often presents a different spectrum of colors encompassing the red of ruby, the green of emerald, the yellow of topaz, the blue of sapphire, and the purple of amethyst.

Because opal has the colors of other gems, the Romans thought it was the most precious and powerful of all. The Bedouins believed that opals contained lightning and fell from the sky during thunderstorms. When Australia’s mines began to produce opals commercially in the 1890s, it quickly became the world’s primary source for Opal.

Mexican fire opal
This fire opal weighs a spectacular 132 carats. Courtesy W. Constantin Wild & Co., Idar-Oberstein, Germany

Types of Opal

Fire opal: The most prized fire opal is both crystal clear and intensely bright. The blazing red-orange of this gem is the perfect accent to earth tones and also pairs well with bright hues. Unlike most opal, fire opal is often faceted, which allows the stone to sparkle with brilliance as well as display its trademark sunburst. Fire Opal is mined in the Mexican states of Queretaro, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Michoacan, Jalisco, Chihuahua, and San Luis Potosi. Small quantities of this gem can also be found in Oregon, USA and British Columbia, Canada.
Black opal is found at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Australia. This magnificent gemstone is the most valuable form of opal. It’s dark background color, usually black, blue, brown or gray, sets the spectral colors ablaze much like a storm cloud behind a rainbow.
Light Opal has white or light appearance. It has a light or pale background and often displays red, green and blue pinfire.
Crystal opal is transparent and pure opal, and mined in Coober Pedy, Australia. It typically has sharp clarity of diffracted color visible from within and on the surfaces of the opal. When held out of the direct light, crystal opal displays some of the most intense opal color.
Boulder opal is in very high demand and extremely precious. Boulder opal is usually cut to the contours of the opal vein creating a baroque wavy surface and is often freeform and irregular in shape, making boulder opal unique and exclusive among its peers. Boulder Opal from Queensland is the most brightness and best appearance of the Australian Opals.
Doublets are made by gluing slices of precious opal to a common opal (potch) backing with blackened cement, usually an epoxy resin. The dark backing enhances the colors of the opal. When the backing is brown ironstone it is often called a boulder doublet.
Triplet Opal: Thin slice of precious crystal opal glued between crystal cap on top and black backing.
Mosaic Opal: Thin chips of precious crystal opal glued onto black backing, can be used in doublets, triplets or on watch faces.
Inlay Opal: Small thin pieces of precious crystal opal glued directly into channels in jewellery. Inlay Opal can be any type of Opal, but we usually prefer Black, Crystal or Boulder Opal inlay.

Types of Opal