| Thought
to be the birthstone for October in Ayurvedic,
and modern cultures, opal is a zodiac stone for
Aquarius and Libra. This shimmering stone is very
soft, prone to breakage, and comes in a dizzying
variety of mystical shades.
Base colors define the opal. Shades range from
colorless, white, yellow, orange, red, purple,
blue, green, brown, and black. Different colors
are displayed when viewed in different lights
or from various angles. This shimmering display
is called "play-of-color."
Play-of color is caused by thousands to millions
of tiny silica spheres, arranged in orderly
patterns throughout the opal. Light is diffracted
from these silica, causing a dance of color
with every movement. Density and pattern of
the silica cause the variations in each stone.
The value of opal is determined by its play-of-color.
Without it they are termed common opals and
have little to no monetary worth. So many varieties
of opal exist that names for them have piled
up into the hundreds. The following is a list
of commonly accepted names for typically found
opals.
Common Opal - no play-of-color
Precious Opal - any
play of color
Black Opal - aprecious
opal with any base shade (black, green, blue)
which is
deeply colored
White Opal - a precious
opal with any lightly colored base
Fire Opal - common,
yellow-orange to red opal
Precious Fire Opal -
precious, yellow-orange to red opal
Hyalite - colorless
to sky blue opal
Choose
your own gorgeous birthstone jewelry at JeGem.com
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