The opal stone has such an unusual cosmic beauty that this has made it very popular and expensive. Noble opal is considered valuable along with pearls...
The name translated from ancient Sanskrit means “noble stone”. The more combinations of colors and shades, as well as play of colors, the more expensive it is.
Description
The opal mineral has not only unusual beauty, but also an unusual composition, due to sedimentary or hydrothermal at low temperatures, as well as supergene. Many millions of years ago, trees growing near bodies of water became its “progenitors.” Tree bark, leaves, wood, plus volcanic ash rotting in water over time turned into the mineral opal. Some of them, those that were close to the surface of the water, look like smooth wood and are easy to find. The other part is more difficult to find and contains water, minerals and crystals.
Masses of opal stone in the form of sediment accumulate in river waters in the form of layers. It is also deposited in coastal marine zones during the life of living organisms.
Composition: amorphous silica. The water content is from 1 to 4-5%, but there are often cases when water makes up up to 20%. In some cases, up to a third is water. Due to the fact that the composition contains water, it evaporates at a boiling point of 100°C.
The mineral therefore requires very careful care, since it contains water and its structure resembles a frozen gel. It can dry out, crack, and fade. If earlier it was necessary to use oil to preserve the jewelry insert, then in modern conditions, to prevent drying and loss of water, they began to use artificial resins, which jewelers use to coat the gem.
Its value in the eyes of jewelers and connoisseurs depends on the degree of opalescence and iridescence. These properties give the mineral extraordinary beauty.
The rarest and most valuable varieties of opal are called pipes - in the composition of boulders that are formed due to iron oxide in sandstones and petrified trees.
Place of Birth
Australia is the most lucky with the “noble stone” - it accounts for more than 90% of all known reserves.
In Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and the USA, where opal is still found, there are no significant deposits, because the noble variety of the mineral is extremely rare - about 1%.
Before deposits of the “precious stone” were discovered in Australia, the Czech Republic was considered a famous mining site.
Currently, Australia has been and remains virtually the only source of this unique stone.
More than half of the opals mined there are white, also called light opals. The share of crystal opal production is about 30% and the share of black agate is about 9% of production. Only 2% of the mined mineral is not precious; it is a boulder.
The main mining town for the mineral is Coober Pedy, in southern Australia. There, in 1956, the largest opal in the world, “Eight Mile,” was found. Its weight was more than 5 kg or 17 thousand carats, and its size was 28x12x11 cm.
Popular varieties of opal
Noble opal. It is characterized by a rich play of color inside; these properties are also called opalization, luminescence or iridescence. One of the most valuable types in the jewelry world.
Hyalite. Resembles frog caviar or glass in appearance, colorless or bluish-gray.
Hydrophane or Ethiopian opal. Porous, unattractive in appearance. When dry it is cloudy, but becomes clear in water.
These are just some of the types of opal. In total, there are about one hundred varieties of flowers. The peculiarity of the gem is its ability, regardless of the shade and degree of transparency in the light, to emit a varied range of colors (opalescence or luminescence).
The main groups into which experts propose to divide all types of opals are black and white.
The first group includes all dark opals: blue, green, burgundy, red and black, with all possible combinations of these colors and shades. The most expensive are black ones, or as they are also called “volcanic”.
The second group contains light opals: pink, blue, white, yellow, gray.
Blue opal or “Peruvian” can also be especially distinguished, because... found in the Andes. The inclusions of black and brown colors in it represent imprints of vegetation or rocks.
Unique are green gems with a zonal play of color in shades, which is commonly called opal “cat’s eye”.
“Harlequin” is an unusual combination of dark color and bright, fiery inclusions.
Opal stone colors
Black opal. The best black opals are found 250 km from Coober Pedy to the northwest - the Mintabai area, as well as in Andamook and Lightning Ridge. Rare crystal and dark gray minerals are also found there.
The largest polished opal was also found in Australia, named after its color "Black Peacock", weighs 160 carats and is kept in the Smithsonian Institution in the USA.
NASA announced in 2008 that opal deposits had been discovered on Mars.
Fire opal. Red or fiery is one of the most expensive and desirable types for jewelers and connoisseurs of precious stones. Very rare specimens are stones with opalescence in the form of dots or specks, fiery color. Very rare and valuable specimens of black fire opal are mined in the USA, Nevada.
Lejos has fallen. Green or chrysopal. If decrystallization occurs, it turns into chrysoprase.
Milky opal – cacholong. It has a milky white color and often contains dendrites, manganese oxide or goethite.
Opal in magic
The cosmic unusualness of the stone was not ignored by magicians and astrologers. They consider opal to be one of the most magically powerful gems.
It is a symbol of happiness, love, faith and kindness in many countries. It has long been used as a talisman against black or evil forces and sorcerers. For a talented person, this is the best talisman. It will help you reveal your abilities, inspire and support you in days of doubt.
The main magical properties of opal in light and bright shades are associated with the life-affirming principle. If you have such a talisman, then order comes into a person’s life, especially in the house. The gem helps everyone - business people who become more organized and optimistic, athletes who acquire better coordination of movements, and simple housewives for whom everything immediately becomes organized.
Due to its softness and pliability, the mineral is considered a symbol of love and mercy.
White opals “teach” their owner to live in harmony with the whole world, to be kind and positive.
Black opals should not be worn by people of soft character; it can cause harm.
Bright pieces not only symbolize optimism and faith in the best, but also impermanence, so they should not be worn by those who want to be faithful.
Healing properties of opal
If we describe the healing properties of opal in one word, then it is an antidepressant.
Its regulation of the psycho-emotional sphere of a person is very broad:
- calms down;
- suppresses passions and anger;
- relieves irritability;
- treats depression;
- protects against stress (it’s better to wear it around your neck);
- facilitates communication;
- promotes clarity of consciousness;
- relieves negative thoughts;
- eliminates fears (phobias);
— inspires;
- improves intuition;
- treats insomnia and normalizes sleep.
In addition to the listed effects on the mental and emotional state, the stone has a beneficial effect on cardiac activity, treats eye diseases and headaches. Lithotherapists claim that wearing opal helps to increase immunity and reduce colds. It is especially useful in this regard for children, who grow healthier under its influence.
Astrologers and magicians note that all healing properties are applicable to people only with good intentions.
Who is suitable according to their zodiac sign?
Opal is the stone of October.
Since it combines all the colors of the rainbow, all the elements, it suits all signs of the Zodiac, except that each sign is better suited to one of the types.
Representatives of the Fire element -, and, are not recommended to wear noble opals. This is due to the fact that this type of gem enhances the already strong fiery energy and thereby reduces performance and well-being in general.
For - this is a good amulet and amulet that will help them find the harmony that representatives of this sign lack. Mood instability can be reduced and balanced by wearing a gem, which will also soften your character and promote the development of creative abilities.
And opal is a wonderful combination. The “divine” mineral will help you overcome fears, anxiety and find harmony and self-confidence, and will smooth out negative character traits, such as selfishness, tediousness and stubbornness.
For and the gem is quite neutral. Its impact will be neither positive nor negative.
How to spot a fake
Jewelers often make doublets and triplets, i.e. opal is used as one of two or three layers. Windstone or obsidian can be glued under it, i.e. black "base". Quartz, glass or rock crystal are also used as a “base”.
Opal doublet
The risk in this case is to pay much more than the product is actually worth.
Another type of counterfeit that scammers can use is impregnation with paint or synthetic resin to give the stone a more “expensive” tone.
You can distinguish it from a fake by the play of light; if in a natural stone the lights “play” - they appear from the depths and disappear, in a fake - such play is not observed. Sparkles of various shades in the fake remain in place in any lighting.
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In this article:
Opal is one of the most beautiful and unusual gems. It turns out that they are mined not only for the jewelry industry, but also for technology and as ornamental materials. The noble subspecies of this stone is considered the most valuable. Precious opal is a type of mineral with a play of colors called opalescence. This play of color can be monochromatic or, more importantly, in various shades.
This variety is most often used by jewelers. The structure of noble opal consists of ordered spheres in many packages. Such spheres have equal diameters and form a unique structure. All this leads to the reflection of color with different wavelengths and causes the effect of iridescence. The fact is that a certain wavelength is reflected by its packaging depending on the viewing angle.
Noble opals
In the West, noble opal is a very popular and expensive stone. In the USSR it was replaced by the most imitation plastic. And even now the popularity of this stone in our country is much lower than in the West. Depending on the color of the material of the main part, without taking into account the iridescence of different colors, the following types of noble opals are distinguished.
- Milky white.
- Girazole opal is colorless, transparent, with a bluish tint.
- Black.
- Jelly opal, or harlequin, is practically colorless, sometimes with a yellowish tint. Translucent and has a subtle play of colors.
- Fire Opal: The base color ranges from orange-yellow to red, sometimes with bright red highlights.
The last variety is somewhat out of the list. Most often it is not opalescent, but has orange reflections with iridescence. But still, this type is considered noble, because it is widely used in jewelry.
Another unique variety of precious opal from Mexico, called Mexican, is often found. This opal appears in the form of opal matrices in which the opal is surrounded by black rock.
As a rule, opals occur in nature in the form of thin veins, so they are subject to refinement, which somewhat changes their appearance.
History of the stone
Already in ancient times, noble opal aroused admiration, as can be understood from Pliny’s description. He wrote that this stone causes the greatest difficulties when trying to describe it and that it may contain a play of carbuncle color, a reflection of violet amethyst and emerald tones. Mixing it all together and shining with a brightness that is hard to put into words.
If you analyze the sources, you can understand that already in ancient times, scammers were familiar with the possibility of making stone crafts at a high level. Pliny argued that if you hold a fake stone with your thumb and forefinger and let light fall on it, it will not emit radiance. At the same time, if you take a noble stone, its color play will depend on the angle of incidence of the sun's ray and the viewing angle.
For a long time, the stone was mistrusted due to a common superstition that still occurs today, namely that those who wear opal will face misfortune. Opal had such fame among people for a long time until black opal was discovered in Australia. The world of stones could not offer a replacement for this stone of unique beauty, so its popularity continued to grow.
This type of stones has two varieties - black and white. However, these terms are actually used in a broader sense than is believed. White opals always have a light color, but they may not be white, but, for example, yellowish. Black opal is too rare; some samples have a dark blue or black-gray color. Sometimes rays passing through a blue stone can turn it yellow.
In many examples of this opal, the areas of play of color are too small to be processed individually. Therefore, the entire mottled mass is processed and sold as an opal matrix.
The color of opal depends on the impurities it contains. To classify this stone, its shine, transparency, and color are taken into account. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the hardness of the stone and the presence of impurities.
Noble opal can be classified as a precious stone, since the highest quality specimens can be very expensive. Most often they are given the shape of a circle or oval, as well as other shapes, depending on the configuration of the material that served as the raw material.
The mineral must be stored in a room with high humidity, otherwise it may crack and become cloudy. Therefore, products with opals should be worn, as they are saturated with moisture from the skin. It is recommended to store the opal in wet wipes or immerse it in water from time to time.
How to determine the quality of a mineral by eye?
Most of the opals on the market come, as a rule, from private craftsmen. They have milky colors, the play of which is very weak. In order to determine by eye how realistic the price of an opal is, there is a rule of thumb: if the play of colors is visible from a distance of 60–90 cm in good lighting, then this mineral is considered to be of excellent quality. If even in the best light it is necessary to peer closely to decide whether it is present, then this material is worth nothing at all, and no amount of processing art will make it a real precious stone.
Fine opals are most often cut as cabochons, but uniformly colored ones and from Mexican deposits can be cut. Before caboching, the noble opal is examined in glycerin or in water to determine the direction of the most spectacular color transfusion.
Stones that are classified as noble can crack spontaneously. There is a certain type that is not susceptible to this - white opal from Australia, but there may be exceptions. In order to prevent such an unpleasant outcome, they undergo special treatment - stabilization.
Stone deposits
The main sources of noble specimens are Mexico, Australia and Brazil. Deposits where noble opal is mined industrially are known in countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Honduras, Brazil, and the USA. But Australia’s deposits are considered unique, producing about 95% of the world’s stones.
Now there is a solution for the industrial synthesis of precious opals of any color. Such synthetic opal today will be tens of times cheaper than natural opal.
What are they?
In addition to the noble stone, there are several more varieties:
- Common opal. This type has a certain color, which, although it may differ depending on the lighting, does not change when the stone is tilted or rotated. Most often, such stones include transparent and opaque stones of all colors.
- Stabilized opal. This type of opal includes stones that are themselves suitable for use in jewelry, but are too porous to be used in jewelry. Certain processing methods are applied to them, which help improve the quality of raw materials.
- Imitations. This variety includes materials that are not opals at all. It can be painted glass or plastic. They are just an imitation, and if they try to pass them off as real, it is a fraud.
Most often, you come across either synthetic or stabilized opals on the market. Of course, it is better to have natural ones, but sometimes this may not be entirely acceptable due to the fact that the stone is very susceptible to environmental influences and may not last long.
Properties
Opals can be of any transparency and color. They are characterized by such a concept as opalescence. This is an effect that is similar to the shimmer of color in a drop of oil spreading over the surface of water. This phenomenon gives the opal its color.
Opalescence can be dotted, mosaic or zonal. The appearance of different colors is due precisely to this effect. It occurs due to light dispersion, where light breaks down into colors depending on its wavelength. Passing through the transparent spheres in a straight line, it enters the grid, where it deflects at different angles, which are superimposed on each other.
In physics, there is a similar device that is used for circuits and devices in optics called a diffraction grating.
Another property of opals is the play of color. It represents a change in its appearance depending on the viewing angle. In order to understand how colors arise, an electron microscope is used (it has a very high resolution, allowing one to show the structure of substances). The opal structure contains spheres of silicon, which organizes a three-dimensional lattice floating in a silicon solution. This distinguishes the noble stone and gives it its characteristics.
Depending on the size of these spheres, the colors of the spectrum appear during diffraction. It is this combination of decomposition and refraction of rays that gives the opal its colorful appearance when the angle at which light passes through the stone changes. The very concept of opal, if translated, means “to watch the change of light.”
So, the determining factor in the formation of a play of color in a mineral is the diameter of the spheres. Small spheres produce bluish hues and violet, located at one end of the range of light that a person is able to see. The larger ones produce red and its shades, which are at the other end of it. The larger the size of the spheres in the opal, the more interesting the play of color.
Opal consists of silicon oxide in a gel state. It is similar to quartz, but unlike it is not a crystal. Opal is not afraid of the action of basic household chemicals and acids. It dissolves in alkali.
The stone is deposited at low temperatures in cracks and on planes that occur in almost any mineral, but most often it is limonite, sandstone, and basalt.
Opal contains about 3–15% water. On the Mohs scale, it has a hardness of 5.5–6.5 and a density of 2.15 g/cm3. The fact that opal does not have too high hardness does not prevent it from being cut and polished; it has quite sufficient hardness for decoration. Of course, such an indicator requires caution in wearing this stone.
Opals have a mirror-like shine, to which it can be easily polished, including re-polishing. If the stone becomes cloudy, just give it to a master who will polish it.
How much does the stone cost?
The cost depends on the brightness and saturation of color, shade and the play of colors. Under equal conditions, black stone is considered the most expensive. Its cost per carat can reach $300, but some specimens can be valued at much more. The white stone costs about $80.
But the stone did not always have such a value. Everything depended on fashion, which was often governed by superstition. The reason for the resulting notoriety is considered to be the palette of the gem. Many people were not only fascinated by this coloring, but also frightened. In addition, the mineral still has properties such as loss of shine, contamination over time, and color change when heated. Therefore, there was a bad reputation about him.
Refined opal
There are a number of methods for refining opal, and in any case it will cost more than a synthetic stone. If the stone has been refined, it is necessary to tell buyers about this, since, in fact, it is not completely natural.
The difference in price between noble and untreated noble opal can amount to tens of rubles. But now sellers almost always warn that the stone has undergone certain processing.
Mostly those that reach the market are doublets or triplets. However, there may be stones that have been saturated with smoke, and most often even sellers will not report this.
Doublets are stones, the upper part of which consists of noble opal, it is glued to the base. The latter is most often made from stone, which contains iron. This gives the stone the appearance of black opal. In the photo they look the same as ordinary opals. You can tell them apart by holding them in your hands. Opals are thin, so if you look from the side, you can see that the jewelry consists of two halves.
It is easy to identify a doublet, so sellers inform you that this is exactly it. Its price is ten times lower.
Triplets are also popular. Triplets are similar to doublets, the upper part of which consists of transparent hemispheres or domes made of plastic, glass or crystal. The lower part is the same as the doublet. The structure of three layers can be seen “in profile”, provided that the stone is not in a closed type jewelry.
The most common type of improvement is smoke impregnation. It is one of those types that do not need to be disclosed to customers. Ethiopian opals are processed in this way. At the fair or on the Internet you can find sellers who sell refined opals, while claiming that they are completely natural. During the process, the dark shade is acquired due to smoke particles that are trapped inside the cavities of the stone.
It is quite simple to distinguish such a stone because almost any black Ethiopian opal is processed, since they are extremely rare in nature.
Name opal comes from the Latin word “opalus” and the Sanskrit “upala” - “precious stone”. Opal is one of the simplest stones in terms of its chemical composition; it is amorphous silica, a “relative” of quartz, chalcedony and agate, containing from 6 to 30% water (i.e. opal is a silicon dioxide hydrogel).
There are more one hundred varieties of opal a variety of shades due to inclusions and microimpurities of iron, manganese, nickel and other elements.
The three main varieties of opal are common opal, fire opal and precious opal.
"Ordinary" opal
Common opal usually opaque, does not have iridescence. Trade names for ordinary opal are different - there is agate-opal (agate with opal inclusions, wood opal (“silicified wood”), honey opal, milky opal, translucent, with a slight pearlescent tint (it is also called “porcelain” opal), prazopal, or chrysopal - opaque greenish or apple-colored, wax opal - yellowish-brown with a waxy sheen, water opal or hydrophane (“aged” noble opal that has lost some of its water and become cloudy), as well as cacholong (translated from Mongolian as a stone from the river) – milky white opal.
Fire opal has a fiery red color, with very slight opalization, often cloudy milky, but the best fire opals are transparent. Varieties of noble opal are girazole (or girasol - from Italian Girare - “to rotate” and sole - “sun”), or “sun stone”, a transparent, almost colorless opal with a wavy bluish tint; irisopal – colorless or slightly brownish with a single-color tint. “Harlequin” or “oriental opal” are stones with opalescence on a fiery background, “cat’s eye” (the rarest, most expensive variety) - with a bright green concentric-zonal color, “royal” - opal with a dark red core and emerald- green border with an outer unpainted area.
Noble opal has exactly that peculiar “game”, that optical effect, which is called opalescence - a rainbow play of colors that changes with the rotation of the stone. The fact is that opal consists of tiny balls (globules), visible only at high magnification in an electron microscope, and it is they that contribute to the peculiar reflection and interference of color in opal. The color of precious opal is usually white, gray or black,
Like agates, many opals have their own names depending on their color, and the variety of opals is so great that its classification is always controversial.
A deception stone, a stone of passions and vices
And maybe that’s why opal is a deception stone; it inspires deceptive hopes, opal is a stone of misanthropes and a stone of loss, it is believed that it cannot be worn on the hand all the time, it is considered useful to move the ring with this stone from one finger to another during the day.
Opal can only be worn by those who can overcome vicious tendencies within themselves. Opal is a stone of secret passions and vices; dreamers and poets should not wear it. Perhaps due to the variety of its colors, opal in ancient times was a symbol of impermanence, symbolizing changeable fate, but also sharpening intuition and promoting inspiration.
In the East, especially in India, noble opals have long been deified, considering them stones of love, faith and compassion. The ancient Indians revered the milky white cacholong for its pure white color, calling it “petrified milk of the sacred cow,” and Buddhists identify it with the lotus, a symbol of unfading spiritual purity. Opals enlighten the mind with the play of light on their surface, dispel gloomy thoughts and fears. Looking at opals, Indian magicians remembered their previous incarnations.
The legend of the Australian aborigines says that during the time of dreams, the creator descended from the rainbow to the earth to convey to people the knowledge of the world and at the place where his foot touched the ground, stones began to form and glow with all the colors of the rainbow. This is how opals were born.
Precious opals are usually not cut, in order to better display the color play of precious opals, they are given round or oval cabochon shapes or other softly convex shapes, depending on how the material allows it. Only the best fire opals are suitable for cutting. Opals have long been considered quite expensive stones; legend has told us that the opal of the ancient Roman senator Nonnius was valued at 2 million sesterces.
Unlucky Stone
It is believed that opal attracts an idle soul to black magic, arouses anger and suspicion, sows discord, darkens the mind with fear of the future and darkness... The evil effects of opal in historical chronicles were attributed, for example, to the plague epidemic that swept through Italy in the 16th century and claimed many lives...
In the 17th century, the “Great Opal” in a gold frame entered the treasury of the Spanish kings. And...misfortunes immediately fell on the reigning dynasty. The heir died as a child, and a flotilla of ships coming from South America, loaded with gold, sank off the coast of Spain. The “Great Opal” was given to the clergy of the monastery in Almeida and the monks hung it in front of the image of the Madonna.
The belief that opal was unlucky was especially widespread in Europe at the beginning and in the middle of the 19th century, as a result of which the opal trade in most countries of Europe and America decreased significantly. In particular, it is a known fact that Viennese jewelers, having completely lost their customers, threw a large batch of opals into the Danube!
“Fuel to the fire” was added by Walter Scott, who published the mystical and historical novel “Anna Geyerstein” in 1829, translated into many languages and extremely popular (in the Russian translation of 1830 - “Karl the Bold or Anna of Geierstein, the Maid of Gloom”). The heroine of the novel, Lady Hermione, who wore a large piece of jewelry with a noble opal in her hair, which sensitively reacted with a change in color to her mood, dies a mysterious death, which the author associates with the effect of the opal.
This opal, being sprinkled with holy water, loses its precious qualities, turning into an ordinary cobblestone, and is thrown out of harm's way into the sea... Most authors writing about the history of stone, including the contemporaries of Walter Scott, associate the negative attitude towards opal that arose in the middle of the 19th century, (to put it bluntly, hysteria), with the influence of this literary work.
The wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie of France, never wore opals out of superstition, although she liked this stone extremely.
Immediately after the coronation, the English king Edward VII, fearing possible misfortunes, ordered all the opals in his crown to be replaced with rubies.
Princess Stephanie of Belgium, after her husband committed suicide, hastened to get rid of all family jewelry with this stone.
However, all these beliefs were associated with opals of European origin, because they constituted the absolute majority on the market.
Opals of Australia and Queen Victoria
But in 1872, the world's largest deposits of precious opals were discovered in Australia, and a commercial question immediately arose about restoring the good name of this gem to improve the sales market.
The English Queen Victoria, in whose possession these deposits were then located, despite superstitions, began to wear Australian opal, advertising it in this way, and even gave numerous jewelry with this stone to her five daughters, whose fate, as historians point out, was not overshadowed by any misfortunes .
Ultimately, commercial considerations nevertheless prevailed, and at first public opinion was formed in such a way that black precious opal, which by that time constituted a significant part of the stones mined in Australia and was practically absent from European deposits, was considered not to bring any misfortunes. Then a rumor was spread that Australian opals, unlike European ones, did not have any bad qualities, since the European deposits, which had been practically exhausted by that time, had already been abandoned.
During Napoleon's exile he disappeared without a trace. the famous opal “Burning Troy”, belonged to Empress Josephine. According to legend, he allegedly disappeared into thin air, destroying himself. This legendary stone really disappeared after Napoleon's exile.
In 1875, a cholera epidemic swept through Spain, and King Alfonso XII gave Queen Mercedes a ring with a wonderful opal as a talisman against this disease. The queen soon died, and the ring ended up with the king's sister-in-law, who soon... died of cholera. The king himself began to wear the decoration, but he too died a short time later. The opal ring was considered unlucky and was donated to the image of the Holy Virgin of Alumden, patroness of Madrid. However, a little later it turned out that the cause of death of the royal family members was the unsatisfactory condition of the palace sewage system...
The main deposits of opals are in Australia; almost 95% of all opals are mined in hot, waterless deserts, dried by the merciless sun and wind. There are deposits of opals in Mexico (fire opals from the states of Hidalgo and Queretaro), Brazil, Guatemala and Honduras, Turkey, the USA, Kazakhstan, and Russia (Kamchatka and Transbaikalia).
But until the beginning of the twentieth century (until Australian opals were discovered), the best opals came from the Chervenica deposit in ... the Czech Republic.
A.A. Kazdym, To candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences
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