About opals
Hello everyone. I am interested in opals. And you? If so then you may want to read more and if you have more information please let us know what you have.
There are many types of Opals: Black, Crystal, Jelly, White, Milky White, Andamooka, Yowa, Bolder, Ethiopian, Mexican and Hydrophane. There are a few other things to consider. Opal can be solid, double and triple. Black opals can actually come in shades of black, ranging from light gray to dark black.
My favorites happen to be the most desirable dark black opals and the precious Mexican opals. The Ethiopian opals are also beautiful. However, this is a personal preference. For many years we saw mostly white opal and most of it came from Coober Pedy, Australia. Australia produces about 96% of the world’s opals and all of our opals will be of Australian or precious Mexican or Ethiopian origin.
Doublets and triplets are actually layers of opal. In the case of a jerkin there is usually a black opal base to which another crystal opal is glued. And for triplets there is a black opal pot base, a very thin layer of crystal opal and a clear crystal opal dome and all three are connected together. However, both doublets and triplets are REAL Opal. In general, solid opals are more valuable than doublets or triplets. However, both doubles and triplets can be VERY beautiful, and we’ll feature a few of each type.
Of the Mexican opal there is the “fire” opal which is mostly orange and usually has no color play or “fire” play. Strange, because they call it “fire opal”. But the precious Mexican opal is possibly the most beautiful of all opals.
There is a type of Mexican opal called “Contra-Luz” opal. This opal shows its color play best when the light comes from behind the opal and shines through the opal.
Ethiopian opal is also very beautiful and some of it exhibit both the characteristic of normal color play and contra luz fire play.
Opals show off their play of color or flash best when viewed with a single light source overhead – either incandescent or sunlight. Jelly opals are actually crystal opals that you can see through. And crystal opals come in different depths of transparency.
Hydrophane opal needs to be kept moist to see its play of colour. When it dries out, it can sometimes craze or crack along the surface. You must always know your seller and choose one who has fully dried the hydrophane over a number of years. Then you will be pretty sure that the opal is fixed.
I’m sure by now you can tell that I love opals so much that I’ve started buying them. First one by one then packets then different types then rough packets (I will see if I can make a gem quality opal) then I started buying opal jewelry. So now I have hundreds of opals.
So I have opened a store website where I share my collection of opals with anyone who is interested. Come by and take a look. I promise you will see some wonderful opals all at reasonable prices below retail. Featured on our website are mainly Australian opals, both rough and worked, as well as some opal jewellery. We will also have some Mexican opals, both precious cut opals and some rough opals. Sometimes we also have Ethiopian Opal.
