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Dear viewers! Today we will traditionally talk about one of the most beautiful stones — OPAL STONE — The queen of all gemstones. Opal stone is a gem, colored as space, rainbow, and it indeed relates to something extraordinarily magical. Opal stone doesn’t have any crystal structure that other natural minerals possess. It ranks low on the Mohs scale of hardness. It is impossible to ignore the beautiful dance of colors that happens with every movement, called the opalescence effect. Rainbow modulations, changing at the smallest rotation of the opal stone, are caused by the refraction of light to submicroscopic particles of silica. The opals that experience such effects are called noble and go to the category of precious stones. There are many different types of natural opals viz., Ethiopian, matrix, Harlequin, Contra-luz, Morado, Andamooka, and Honduran Opal. Ethiopian Opal Stones Australia has been the dominant power in the opal market for over 100 years. During the early time, as much as 95% of the standard opal production has been worked in Australia. Today, Ethiopia is on its way to developing the second largest opal market in the world. A small discovery in 1994 has put Ethiopia on the universal opal map. This achievement was followed by some evident developments in 2008 and 2013. These are now producing beautiful precious Opal, fire opal, and black Opal with spectacular play-of-color in a variety of patterns and textures. Ethiopian opals are not only attractive, but they usually cost less than similar-quality Opal from Australia. Opal from this area occurs in a wide range of colors. Mostly, these Opals are of brown, red, or orange-colored, but yellow, white, and transparent colors are also very common. Sources: 1) 2) 3) The World of Opals: Eckert, Allan W. 4) 5) 6) Credits to: 1) Pulitzer Opal 2) Discovery Australia #AndrewPidor #Pulitzer Opal
