The most valued and sought-after pattern is called Harlequin, which shows large sections of colour that are nearly the same size and shape as a mosaic.
While you can never find two opals with the same pattern, they are categorized according to some distinguishing arrangements of colours and shapes. Opal PatternsĪlong with various colours, opals have many patterns. If you add red colouring to the rare black background, you get the most prized opal gemstones. However, red is thought to be the rarest and the most valuable colour because larger red spheres within an opal are less common. Opals come in such an array of colours that determining the rarest and most valuable colour is not that easy. When light hits these spheres and bounces off at different angles and directions, the magic happens, and opals show their unique dazzling colour. Opals get colour due to their background colour, which is created by impurities within the structure of the gemstone and the “play-of-colour” produced by the silica structure of the gem. Opals are “filled” with millions of tiny spheres of hard silica sitting on top of each other. Fire Opals – stones that show colour against bright yellow, bright orange or bright red background.Black or Dark Opals – stones that show colour against a dark background.White or Light Opals – stones that show colour against a white, milky or transparent background.Precious opals are further divided into three main categories: There are two types of opals, precious and common precious opals display “play-of-colour”, while commons do not. To make things easier, let’s start with the basics. Opal Colours Image: Stellar-Serbia / Canvaĭescribing the colour of opals is not an easy task since they display all the colours of the rainbow in one abstract painting. Opal mines can also be found in Brazil, Honduras and the United States however, Australia remains the main source of the finest opals, making up around 95% of all gems mined. However, the main source of opals for the ancient world remained Eastern Europe and Turkey. Opals were exceptionally rare gemstones until 1800, when they were discovered in Mexico and Australia. Judging by the discovery, Ethiopia was probably the earliest source of opals.
The discovery proved that opals had been valued since ancient times, and people were crafting jewellery from opals thousands of years before the pyramids of Egypt were built. When the water evaporates, it leaves a silica gel-like substance, which hardens for millions of years and turns into opals.Ī remarkable discovery made by the famous anthropologist Louis Leakey in 1939 showed that opal artefacts found in the cave of Kenya dated back to 4000 BC, more than 6000 years ago. Most scientists follow the belief that opals are formed by water seeping into cracks in various rock formations. There is still an argument over how opal was formed. The name “opal” comes from the Greek word “opallios” and the Roman word “opalus”, both of which originate from the Sanskrit word “upala”, meaning “precious stone”. Opal, the birthstone of October, is regarded as one of the most beautiful stones and must-have gemstones for many jewellery lovers. Opals are unique gemstones that display dazzling play of colour mixed with brightness, shimmer and sparkle, which is why these semi-precious gems have adorned men since the dawn of history.
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