opal types???

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Iskandarman
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opal types???

Post by Iskandarman »

What is fire opal really are?
Yellow to red color?? How about with brown and brownish orange or brownish yellow??

What is the different between chrysopal and prase opal??

What is jelly opal really are??
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PinkDiamond
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Re: opal types???

Post by PinkDiamond »

Fire opals range from yellow to orange to cherry red. From what I've seen the darker ones with the brownish overtones seem to be Jalisco opals from that area of Mexico, but they have all the other colors, too. It's just that the ones I've seen had that brownish overtone so it's my guess that that's what they are, but I don't see why brownish tones can't be found in them everywhere, depending on mixture of elements in the area. I don't have a concrete answer for that one.

Prase opal is green to yellowish green, translucent to opaque, common opal that resembles chrysoprase, and the golden-green variety is what they call chrysopal.

I don't own any jellies, but I did find this decent explanation.
Jelly Opal is a transparent precious opal with a gelatinous appearance. Characteristically, these beautiful gems have a bluish sheen. However, the play of color within them will include yellows, greens, pinks, oranges, and sometimes bright reds.

Jelly Opals are darker in appearance than crystal opals. Today, these beautiful stones are often found alongside black opal in the Lightning Ridge mines of Australia {4}. However, Victorian-Era Jelly Opals, such as the one pictured here, would likely have been found in the Czech mines.

Jelly Opals are more transparent than other types of opal. Therefore, the play of color acts differently. The color rolls through the stone rather than appearing in shifting patches. As with all types of opals, Jelly Opals display more color when they are slightly warmed by nearness to the skin.

http://eragem.com/news/jelly-opal/

Hope that helps. ;)
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SwordfishMining
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Re: opal types???

Post by SwordfishMining »

Like the reference to Czech source.
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OpalSpectrum
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Re: opal types???

Post by OpalSpectrum »

from what I've seen jelly opal from lightning ridge has yellowish or light orange body tone - a bit similar to 'fire opal' but more cloudy & jelly :)
in most cases the fire is dull and lower grade and the opals are less stable - crack easier but not allways
but It's hard to describe jelly opal

SwordfishMining wrote:Like the reference to Czech source.


yes but it was not Chech but Slovakia and in the Victorian Era it was Austro-Hungarian Empire ;)
I have some opals from this area but only tiny white chips

ps. in my opinion prase opal and chrysopal are the same type - light apple green opals which are colored by nickel
chrysopal it's my favorite type of common opal

greets
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Iskandarman
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Re: opal types???

Post by Iskandarman »

So the newly discovered Malaysian opal (approved by Malaysian GIA) is belong to Jelly opal with purplish blue flash...
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OpalSpectrum
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Re: opal types???

Post by OpalSpectrum »

I don't know about Malaysian opal - can you link any info ?
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SwordfishMining
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Re: opal types???

Post by SwordfishMining »

They also called the off material honey opal. The bright yellow and orange and red of Fire opal is desirable but blah yellows and browns are worthless unless the play of color hides the base color. I call opal crystal for colorless clear without opacity you can read thru, and it does not blur sharp lines. It can be dark naturally smoky and called I call that black crystal, Jelly is a term for not so clear opal thats not clear optically. There is also a term the miners and buyers use. Nobel Opal. Not good enough for precious classification and removed from parcels called precious. It can be left in mine run along with the contra luz and low grade but no gem buyer wants if for their cutters and shops when the precious Wolo is almost as cheap. Ive heard the "purple low fire" described as driveway gravel more than once. I'd like to see an example of line fire from Australia.
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SwordfishMining
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Re: opal types???

Post by SwordfishMining »

AKA Banteen or Java opal is from the same location or not?
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Iskandarman
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Re: opal types???

Post by Iskandarman »

Java is an island situated in Indonesia. contains wide variety of opals... Banten is the only place that have precious opal. Other location have fire opals, chrysopal, prase opal, honey, translucent and opaque blue, transparent green, opalized fossil and many species of opal except the Hyalite.
Shea_O
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Re: opal types???

Post by Shea_O »

TMI
Last edited by Shea_O on Tue Mar 19, 2019 6:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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