What Do Fire Opals Look Like

They are not recommended for use in jewelry.

What do fire opals look like. These three stones show the color range of fire opal a name given to specimens of opal with a fiery background color. No need to put a high polish on it. Frank this is a typical example of a black or dark opal from the mintabie opal field in south australia north of the coober pedy mine. Look closely at the pattern in the opal.

Opalescence is often used to refer to play of color but the term should only be used to describe the milky iridescence of common opals which do not. The orange and yellow stones have a sleepy translucence while the red stone is semitranslucent almost opaque. Although it does not usually show any play of color occasionally a stone will exhibit bright green flashes. It is fine if the opal feels like this.

A natural opal will have less systematic patterns. During winter a wood fire would warm up a room and cold water was splashed repeatedly on the rough. It may or may not exhibit play of color the color of fire opal can be as vivid as seen in the three stones shown here. This can confuse new opal buyers.

Some people are confused when they hear the name fire opal. Fire opal is a term used for colorful transparent to translucent opal that has a bright fire like background color of yellow orange or red. Just clean the back up a bit but dont cut it two thin. Fire opal does not exhibit much play of color like other varieties of opal.

Doublets are a little more difficult to identify as they often use a natural potch black colourless opal or ironstone the brown boulder opal host rock backing. Look at the back of the opal does it look or feel like a kind of hard black or grey plastic. Its a lovely piece. Fire opals like other opals are relatively hard rating a 5 5 to 6 5 on the hardness scale.

The orange stone is about 7 x 9 millimeters in size and was mined in oregon. Crazed opal is mostly kept as specimens or collectors pieces. Its perfectly ok to leave the white sandstone type material on the back as long as you clean it back to reasonably smooth. Not sure of the quality.

Like the traditional opal fire opals can occasionally display signs of iridescence in very bright light. Fire opal typically exhibits a hazy or cloudy appearance which is a result of slight opalescence adularescence. Ethiopian opals are mostly hydrophane and do have a waxy different feel compared to other opals. Crazed opals can be treated with opticon which stabilises the opal.

Crazing looks like multiple crack lines. Its water content may range from 3 to 21 by weight but is usually between 6 and 10. Transparent specimens have a good luster. Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica sio 2 nh 2 o.

Because of its amorphous character it is classed as a mineraloid unlike crystalline forms of silica which are classed as minerals it is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock being. Triplets are often glued on to a black plastic glass or vitrolite backing. These opals are commonly called mexican fire opals. Fire opal is a transparent to translucent opal with warm body colors of yellow to orange to red.