What is the difference between doublets and triplets?Ī Doubletconsists of a black base, to which a thin layer of precious opal is glued.Ī Triplet also consists of a base, and layer of opal, but a quartz dome is added to the top. Very thin pieces of opal are often found and cannot be used in jewelry in such cases, cutters collect them into doublets and triplets. It is also worth mentioning about doublets and triplets. There are also some exceedingly rare specimens of stones such as Moss Opal - stones with inclusions similar to moss. These varieties are all defined by the color of the stone, the geography of the deposit and the stone’s beauty. In fact, there are many more kinds of opals. Pinfire opal is interesting because the shining spots are present in large quantities throughout the entire stone. Harlequin Opal is a stone with colored diamond-shaped or rectangular spots inside. This shade of stone makes the internal spills brighter and more interesting.Ĭrystal Opal - a semi-transparent or transparent opal with a shimmering effect inside.

Black Opalīlack opal is a dark stone, usually black or dark grey. It is the most common type of precious opal. White opal - a stone of white, yellow, or beige color. There are various other types of opal, also defined by the color of the stone: White Opal This is what makes it different from Boulder Opal, where the opal is limited to cracks and seams. Matrix opal is an amazing stone in which the precious opal is very closely mixed with the host rock. Interestingly, Solid Opal can be made of a combination of both precious and ordinary opal. Solid Opal is a stone consisting of purely opal material, without any inclusions inside, and it is not attached to a host rock. Boulder Opal is most often attached to brown ironstone, and the color contrast between opal and the host rock can be striking. Boulder Opalīoulder Opal is one of the most valuable and expensive types of opal, which contains thin sections of opal surrounded and attached to its natural host rock. Such opals are mined in Ethiopia and are extraordinarily valuable. They are amazingly beautiful due to their bright colors, from which it is impossible to take off your eyes. The Ethiopian Fire Opal is an exceptionally beautiful orange, reddish or yellow opal with different shades of hue.

Fire opal can also show color spills, but this display is usually weak. Fire opal is named as such because of this color, and not because of the 'color play' inside, as you might think. Let's take a look at what kinds of opal exist:įire Opal is a transparent or translucent stone that has a bright, fire-like background color of yellow, orange or red. There are many varieties of precious opals that come in many different colors, and each one looks simply irresistible. The intensity of color, uniformity, pattern, and the ability to see the play of color from every angle.

The quality and price of a precious opal depends on a few things. As you can guess, ordinary opals are relatively common, and are generally considered useless, but precious opal is another matter, it is rare and can only be found in a few places around the world.

The main difference between the two is that precious opals have an extravagant play of color, whereas ordinary opals do not have such a characteristic, making them less attractive. Prior to us describing opals, it is important to note that there are two types of opal: precious and ordinary.

Opal stone meaning