Are Mexican opals valuable?
Mexican Opals are known for their vivid yellow, orange or orange-red colors. The vivid orange and red colors are the most valuable, while the paler yellow and white tend to be less expensive. Transparent specimens are rare and valuable.
Is Mexican opal real?
The Mexican Fire Opal is named for its brilliant red to orange body color which is partly due to iron oxide. Mexican fire opal is the only natural opal that is normally faceted. Light and Dark Mexican Fire Opal varies from a bright orange to a reddish orange and is brilliant cut with precise calibration.
Why are Mexican fire opals so expensive?
Due to its rarity compared to regular opal stones, fire opals are far more valuable. The most valuable colour is red, as it’s the rarest amongst all hues. What is this? Orange and yellow stones are more commonly found and as a result, are cheaper.
Is Mexican opal a Hydrophane?
Most opal is porous to a minor degree, but it is quite unusual for it to be so porous as to qualify as hydrophane. Mexican hydrophane opal is known, but to our knowledge it is opaque and light pink or brown (with or without play-of-color).
How do you tell if an opal is real or fake?
Most genuine solid opals have an irregularity in this area – curved or bumpy due to their natural formation – whereas a man-made stone will be perfectly flat because the two sections are flattened so they can be glued together. Be especially wary if the opal is set in jewellery and you cannot see its back or side.
How can you tell an opal from a Hydrophane?
After a few seconds of allowing the water to either evaporate or soak into the stone, reexamine the appearance. If the water is absorbed into the stone, that area’s refractive index will be slightly different, creating an optical aberration where the drop is placed and confirming that the stone is hydrophane.
Can you get Mexican opal wet?
Opals Can Get Wet This isn’t true but it can be for any prolonged exposure to water. So, if you’re swimming or taking a shower, you should certainly be removing your jewelry before doing so, but that is more so due to the chemicals in pools, soaps, lotions etc.
How can you tell if an opal is real or fake?
Why is Australian opal so expensive?
Not all opals are valued at the same price point. Australian opals are incredibly expensive, especially in comparison to opals sourced in other regions of the world. The reason is that Australian opals have a superior quality that is hard to come by in other regions around the globe.