Opal Types

Brilliance - Gems of Australia International mines it’s precious Natural Opals from the fields of Australia.

Opal is a form of hydrated Silica which consists of 6-10% water in it's structure. The different colours are produced by the different size of silica spheres that are aligned within the Opal and the way the light reflects off the liquid silica in between the silica spheres to produce different colours. Red is the rarest colour, followed by green and blue.

Triplet Opal

This composite stone features a slice of precious Opal, sandwiched between a quartz capping and a base of plastic or in some cases common Opal (opal with no colour) or obsidian. This allows you to purchase a beautiful Opal for a fraction of the cost.

DOUBLET OPAL

A Doublet Opal is a composite stone where there is a layer of precious Opal set on top of a layer of plastic, obsidian, or a lower grade Opal.

MILKY WHITE

The Solid, Natural Milky White Opal is the more common type of Opal and is mostly found in Cooper Pedy, South Australia. The base consists of a milky colour, generally opaque, with mostly pastel colour features.

Boulder Opal

Boulder Opal is native to Queensland and the only type of Opal that is not found in South Australia. This type of Opal forms differently to other Opal. Millions of years ago a series of cracks would have formed in a boulder of ironstone, which upon filling with water, solidified into an Opal. It is a tremendous task to cut the Opal and surface the colour by following the grain.

You will find more boulder Opal pieces to be freeform due to the nature of the growth.

Solid Natural Crystal Opal

Solid Natural Crystal Opal is one of the more fascinating types of Opal with a transparent background and different depths of electric colours within.  The Amdamooka mine in South Australia is a renown producer of this type of Opal.

Solid Natural Black Opal

The Solid, Natural Black Opal is the rarest and more precious of the Opals. It has a dark manganese base. The darker the base is the more valuable it is.

This is mined in lightning Ridge, New South Wales, as well as Mintabie in South Australia.