And you thought an opal was JUST an opal

Opals are one of my favorite gemstones. No two opals are the same and let me tell you, when you see a really good one, you can get lost in its colors.

Lightning Ridge Black Opal in Action

What makes opals so unique are their "play of color, (POC)" or that twinkling of different colors that happens from all angles when viewed. There are several types and patterns of POC but for this beginners blog on opals I’ll just let pictures do the talking.

You wouldn’t believe it if I told you, but you kinda have to since it’s my blog, but there are a LOT of different types of opals out there.

White, the most common type. Found in most commercial quality jewelry.

Black, the most valuable and rare. Found in Southern Australia, more specifically, Lightning Ridge. Black opals aren’t "black" per se. They have a wide array of different "body colors." The darker the better. I may have to do an entire blog on just black opals at some point.

 

Fire, the only opal that doesn’t display POC. It’s found primarily in Mexico and is translucent and usually red to orange’ish in color.

Boulder, also found in Southern Australia and when fashioned in jewelry can strongly resemble black opals. Boulder opals grown in ironstone crevices, so the ironstone can be seen on its backing.

Crystal, an opal with transparent to semi-transparent body color. Also mined in Southern Australia, the POC in crystal opals can sometimes look like it's floating on air.

Ethiopian opals are a newly discovered opal that have excellent body color and POC. They’re relatively less expensive because of the abundance of supply.

Opal are the national gemstone of Australia, and all of the finest opals are found in Southern Australia. They're made up of silica spheres and consists of 3-21% water. They’re rated 5.5-6 on the Mohs scale so you have to be super careful with them when wearing them. They are also susceptible to dehydration which causes irreparable cracking. This is called "crazing."

Like any other colored stone, opals require a lot of care. You should never clean them in any chemicals and should keep them in a lined jewelry box and away from your other jewelry.

As with most other colored gemstones there are synthetics. But opals buyers have yet another bugger to look out for: the doublet and triplet. Doublets and triplets are still technically opals, but they’re a super fine layer of opal glued to a backing that’s usually black to make the POC show up more. Usually these are easy enough to identify by just looking at the stone from the side:

However when set they can look just like a solid opal. So of course, as I always say: Buyer beware.

I hope you've had fun exploring opals.  They really are a miracle.   Have a blingtastic day!