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Opal is brittle, heat sensitive, and breaks and scratches easily; additionally, some varieties
self destruct through the loss of water. Even with these drawbacks, opal's unsurpassed
beauty guarantees its status as a premier gemstone. The derivation of its name even adds
to its position.

Reportedly, opal's name evolved from the Roman word opalus from the Greek word
opallios meaning "to see a change of color." The Greek word was a modification of the
ancient Indian Sanskrit name for opal, upala, which meant "precious stone." If one spoke
in mixed tongues, then opal would be opallios upala, "to see a change of color precious
stone." As indicated by the derivation of its name, opal has centuries of history as a
treasured gemstone.

Historically, beliefs associated with the wearing of opal have varied. The early Greeks
thought that opals gave their owners the powers of foresight and prophecy, and the Romans adored it as a token of hope and purity. Eastern people regarded it as sacred, and Arabs believed it fell from heaven. In the nineteenth century, superstitions grew about the bad
luck or fate that could befall one for wearing opal if it were not the wearer's birthstone.
Today, these superstitions have diminished, but some people still believe it is bad luck
to wear opals. We have also heard people who try to fool themselves, by beleving It's
"OK" if the opal is given as a gift.

Opal has over one hundred variety and trade names, but the list of accepted or commonly
used names is much shorter.

Precious Opal:
The most important and most widely known opal is the precious opal. Precious opal may be subdivided further by color modifiers, white, black, pinks, and blue, which describe the body color of the opal. Australia is famous for its white and black precious opal.

Fire Opal:
Fire opal, the bright red, reddish-yellow, orange, or brownish-red body colored opal is the second most important opal commercially. Until recently, the best fire opal came from
Mexico. Arizona.--Two commercial mining operations in Arizona produce blue precious
opal. The body color is a light or pale blue with strong play of color in red, blue, green,
and orange. The two operations sell most of its material as finished stones at the Tucson
Gem and Mineral show and other local gem shows.

Idaho Opal:
Idaho.--In Idaho, opal is the second largest contributor to the total value of gem material produced. The varieties produced include precious (white and pink), yellow, blue, pink, and common. The Spencer opal mine, the largest privately owned gem stone producer in the
State, is the major producer of opal. At Spencer the precious opal occurs as one or more
thin layers within common opal partially filling gas cavities within a rhyolite-obsidian flow.
About 10% of the material is thick enough to cut into solid gems; the remainder is fashioned into doublets and triplets. The Spencer Mine is the source of pink common opal and pink precious opal.

Louisiana Opal:
Louisiana.--The reported precious opal from Louisiana is a sandstone/quartzite with precious opal cement and matrix. It has blue or purple play of color. The material could be cut into cabochons for jewelry and other items of interest. To date, most of the material has been cut into large (over 2-inches in diameter) gemstone spheres.

Nevada Opal:
Nevada is known for precious opal from Virgin Valley. The first discovery of precious opal
in the Virgin Valley area was in 1905 or 1906. Since then a significant quantity of the highly prized opal has been recovered. Virgin Valley opal is comparable to any in the world for its
vivid play of color and in terms of the size of material available. Individual pieces weighing
over 3 kilograms have been recovered from the Virgin Valley deposits. In 1993, miners
found a 100-kilogram opalized log containing precious opal. The material varies in body
color from deep pure black to brown to yellowish-white to white to colorless. The play of
color includes all colors common to precious opal, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, etc.
The opal occurs primarily as replacement of wood, or sometimes, as replacement of conifer
cones. Some opal does occur as nodules filling void spaces in clay. The wood replacement
is so complete, that generally the wood grain and banding are no longer visible.
The exception to this would be that often the exterior wood texture is still present as a
brown or black rind. The uses of the opal can be restricted because of crazing. Crazing is
the breakdown or deterioration of opal by the development of very fine cracks all over the surface that extend until they intersect. In the worst cases, the surface of the opal
deteriorates into a crumbling sand-like material. Because of the crazing the opal is not
well suited for use in jewelry, but displayed in water, glycerine, mineral oil or other liquids makes remarkably beautiful mineral specimens. The mineral collections of most of the
better museums contain very fine pieces of Virgin Valley opal. Many museum pieces are
crazed from exposure to the air. During the summer months, at least two dig for fee mines
in Virgin Valley are open to individuals. One mine is operated by the Hodson family and the other by the Wilson family. Individuals pay a daily fee to dig and keep all the opal that they find. Other mines in the area are commercial opal producers. Two other locations in Nevada also have produced precious opal. The opal does not have as good a play of color as that
from Virgin Valley and it has the same crazing problem. One location is south of the Virgin Valley in the Calico Mountains of Humboldt County, and the other is near Gabbs in Nye County. The three precious opal locations and many other locations around the State
produce common opal and opalized wood.

Oregon Opal:
Oregon.--During 1988, West Coast Gemstones, Inc., began mining and marketing a variety
of very fine-quality opals from Opal Butte in Morrow County, OR. The varieties produced includes hyalite, rainbow, contra luz, hydrophane, crystal, fire, blue, and dendritic. Exquisite stones as large as 315 carats have been cut from contra luz rough from this deposit.
The deposit at Opal Butte has been known since the late 1800's. It was of interest only to
hobbyists until recently because people believed most of the opal was unstable. Stability
can be a problem with the opal, crazing can occur when stresses are created from shrinkage
due to water loss. West Coast has developed methods of drying the opal that greatly reduce crazing. Even with the drying procedures, the stability varies from 20% to 90% depending
upon the variety. The opals are found in rhyolite geodes (thundereggs) in a perlite that has altered to a pastel colored clay. The geodes that contain gem-quality opal are only about
10% of the total geodes mined and only about 1% of the geodes contain gem-quality opal
with play of color. The remaining geodes contain agate, quartz crystals, or common opal.
The geodes vary greatly in size, from a few centimeters in diameter to over a meter.
The deposit continues to produce a supply of very fine quality opal for cutting and carving. Currently, a company has launched an American gemstone jewelry line based on the Opal Butte's opal. Plans are to operate the mine for at least the next 5 years

Black Opal World - Black Opal, Crystal Opal and Opal Jewelry at wholesale prices. Black Opal cutters and wholesalers for over 15 years.
http://www.blackopalworld.com

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Chuck and Virginia Brown
Golden Arts Fine Jewelry
1127 Snake River Ave.
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
1-208-746-1506