Photos of opal from around the world. Guidance for people who want to buy opal, see different types of opal, understand their names, learn about synthetics and imitations.

Precious opal: Different types of opal that can be called "precious opal." Starting at top right and going clockwise: pinfire opal (named after its color pattern), white opal (named after its white background color), matrix opal (named after where the precious opal is located in the rock's structure), boulder opal (named after where the ...

Apr 3, 2019 · A spectrum of common opal colors: Pink opal from Peru; yellow and orangy opal from Australia and Nevada; green opal from Peru and Kenya; Blue opal from Oregon and Peru; purple opal from Mexico. The common opals above have been used to make beautiful beads, cabochons and tumbled stones.

Aug 13, 2019 · Synthetic opals are man-made opals that have the same chemical composition, internal structure, physical properties, and appearance as natural opals. They are often called lab-created opals, lab-grown opals, or cultured opals to indicate their man-made origin.

Faceted Fire Opal: These three stones show the color range of "fire opal," a name given to specimens of opal with a fiery background color. The orange and yellow stones have a sleepy translucence, while the red stone is semitranslucent, almost opaque.

What is Black Opal? "Black opal" is a term used for opal that has a dark bodycolor, often black or dark gray. The term is also used for opal that has a dark blue or dark green bodycolor. The dark bodycolor often makes the fire of black opal more obvious. This contrast of fire color to bodycolor makes black opals very desirable and sell for high ...

Boulder opal is a rock containing thin seams and patches of precious opal that are too thin or too small to cut into solid opal. Two popular cutting styles are: 1) a gem that shows seams and patches of precious opal within host rock, and, 2) a thin seam of precious opal as the face of a gem with a natural host rock backing.

Large discoveries of opal were made in Ethiopia in 2008 and 2013. These deposits produce precious, fire and common opal in a wide variety of colors and types. Ethiopia might capture a major portion of the world's opal market share from Australia.

An experienced gemologist or a gem identification laboratory can tell the difference between common opal, imitation opal, and synthetic opal (a man-made material that has the same chemical composition and physical properties as natural opal).

Aug 10, 2017 · The most frequently found type of opal in Virgin Valley is common opal. Common opal does not exhibit the play-of-color seen in precious opal or the translucent to transparent hues of fire opal. In the column at right, we have a photo of some cream and black mossy opal from the Royal Peacock Mine.