Opal Essence |
The origin of the opal is very interesting according to legend. The Aborigines in Australia believed the Creator came down and where he stood a field of sparkling opals in a rainbow of colors came to life. There is a great variety of the gemstones including white, black, milk, crystal, boulder, matrix, Queensland (yowah nuts), Mexican, resin, hyalite, wood, geyserite, Muller's Glass, colorless, Peruvian, and diatomite.
Until the nineteenth century Hungary was the only source, but now they can be found all over the world, including Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Idaho, Nevada, Maui, and Ethiopia, In 1849 they were discovered in Tarraville in Australia, and in 1890 propecting began at White Cliffs in that country, and continued in Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Coober Peddy, and Andamooka. The gemstones were unearthed by the workers with picks and shovels. Opals are Australia's national gemstone, and the country's women's basketball team is called The Opals. Colorless opal is very common, but precious opal can only be found in Mexico, the U.S. and Australia, which produces the majority.
Fire, or orange-red transparent opals are found mainly in Mexico and South America, with a few found in Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Turkey. The attributes sought in a fire opal are transparency, color, and the more fiery red it is, the more valuable. In jewelry it should not be exposed to extreme heat, or to cosmetics, though it benefits it if worn a lot to retain its water balance. If the surface becomes a matt finish from wear, it can be polished. The constant fantasy change of colors in the gemstone is called "opalising", which does not exist in the fire opal, which is nevertheless considered a precious stone.
Black opal was first discovered in Honduras and is very durable. Its play of color is extraordinary. The largest one ever found is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. and was found in the Virgin Valley fields of northern Nevada The Nevada state stone is the opal. Spencer, Idaho is the site of white base opal.
The colors of opals are of the rainbow, including rare red and black, white, green, white, gray, yellow, blue, brown, and magenta. The word opal comes from the Latin word "opalus" or 'stone of several elements', or the Sanskrit word "upala".It is found in almost all variety of rocks, but commonly found in basalt, sandstone and rhyolite. In the Middle Ages it was considered a talisman of good luck. It is also considered by some to ease depression and to help its wearer find love.
White opals are the least expensive and show a more diffusion of color. Crystal opals are next to the black in color play. If the color red is obvious in the examination of opals, other colors are also present. Besides the body color, opals are judges on their translucency, transparency, and opaqueness.