Top Results for Opal

Black opals are gemstones primarily sourced from Lightning Ridge, Australia. Their notable characteristic is intense play-of-color – shifting flashes of fiery hues within a dark body tone. This unique optical phenomenon makes them highly sought after for fine jewelry and investment pieces. Black opa...

Crystal opal is a transparent to semi-translucent variety of precious opal characterized by its lack of body tone, which allows light to penetrate the stone. This transparency creates a highly vivid, three-dimensional display of spectral colors known as play-of-color. Mined primarily in Australia an...

Contra luz opal is a distinct variety of opal known for exhibiting play-of-color only when light is transmitted through the stone from behind, rather than reflecting off its surface. This optical effect makes the internal colors visible primarily when the gemstone is held up against a direct light s...

Boulder opal is a distinctive gemstone variety found exclusively in Queensland, Australia, characterized by its formation on ironstone host rock. Unlike solid opals, these gems are cut and polished with the natural ironstone matrix intact, resulting in a dark backing that enhances the stone's vibran...

Ethiopian opal is a hydrophane opal variety first commercially mined in the Welo Province around 2008. It is distinguished by its vibrant, high-contrast play-of-color, which can display broad flashes of red, green, and blue against a white or translucent body. Because it is porous, this opal absorbs...

White opal is a variety of precious opal characterized by a white, milky, or light-colored base tone upon which internal spectral colors flash, a phenomenon known as play-of-color. The internal structure of this hydrated silica diffracts light to produce the shifting displays of color that make the...

Andean opal is a trade name for blue, green, or blue-green common opal from Peru. Unlike precious opal, it generally does not show a distinct play-of-color; its appearance comes mainly from its pastel body color and translucent to opaque texture. Copper-bearing inclusions, including material associa...

Fire opal is a variety of opal recognized primarily by its body color, which may be yellow, orange, or red and can range from transparent to translucent. Mexican material is especially associated with the name, and some specimens display play-of-color while others show only the warm background color...

Hyalite opal is a usually colorless, transparent to translucent form of opal with a glass-like appearance and rounded or botryoidal surfaces. Some specimens fluoresce bright green under ultraviolet light because trace uranium or uranyl compounds act as activators in the silica material. The fluoresc...

Wood opal is fossilized wood in which the original organic material has been replaced or impregnated by silica while retaining aspects of the wood's structure. The silica may form common opal, and in some specimens it can produce the color changes associated with precious opal. Visible grain, growth...