The brilliant sunny yellows are highly regarded, but the more saturated orange and orange-red stones are especially valuable. The best stones usually show a vivid burnt red-orange combination. The colors range from yellow to orange and from brown to red. The color range of fire opal can be quite wide, and some pieces display several colors in a single stone.
On the other hand, brownish fire opal is usually cut en cabochon to enhance and maximize its desirable play of color effect.īuying Fire Opal and Determining Fire Opal Value Back to Top Fire Opal Color Unlike most opal, fire opal occurs with good transparency and because of this, it is usually faceted rather than cut en cabochon. Fire opal that exhibits no play of color is sometimes referred to as jelly opal. Darker brownish fire opal will typically exhibit more play of color than fiery golden colored varieties. The name ' fire opal' is derived from its 'fiery' orange color, though it can also be white or brown. In fact, most fire opal does not exhibit any play of color, although it may occasionally exhibit flashes of bright green. Fire opal is not known for its play of color, but rather for its vivid body color.
Owing to its high water content, fire opal is rather delicate and should be protected from heat and prolonged exposure to strong light, to avoid drying and cracking. Like other opal gemstones, between three and ten percent (and in some cases as much as 21 percent) of the weight of fire opal is water. About Fire Opal - History and Introductionįire opal is a gem-quality form of amorphous hydrated silicon dioxide with no crystalline structure.
0 kommentar(er)
