Here, let me copy the Baidu Encyclopedia for you:

1. Opal

Opal is the transliteration of English OPAL, and some people also translate it into Opal. , it is a precious opal mainly produced in Australia. In order to facilitate keyword searches on the Internet, we still translate it into "Opal" which was used in Chinese in the past. OPAL is derived from OPALUS in Latin, which means "the beauty of gems in one". Opal is also known as: opal, mountain cloud, etc.

2. Original Opal

It is the Chinese translation of English SOLID OPAL, which means the whole natural opal after cutting and polishing, including the colored part and the background lining stone.

3. Body tone

Refers to the overall background color of the entire original opal, which is called BODY TONE in English.

4. Color-changing game

The surface color of opal changes in various ways with the intensity of light and the change of visual angle, just like various colors playing a hide-and-seek game together. In English it is called PLAY-OF-COLOUR. It is a phrase specially created to describe the changing colors of Opal.

2. Plessius Opal

It is the transliteration of the English PRECIOUS Opal, which means precious or valuable Opal.

6. Debolai Opal

It is the transliteration of English DOUBLETS Opal, and Chinese means double-layer opal

7. Cuibo Laiou Po means laminated opal

It is the transliteration of English TRIPLET opal, which means three layers of opal in Chinese.

8. Background lining stone

Usually refers to the background part of original opal, debolai opal, and trebaoli opal used to set off the surface colored opal. It is a natural Composition of common opal.

What is Opal

Opal is one of the most beautiful and precious gemstones in the world. 95% of the world's opal is produced in Australia. The chemical composition of opal is SiO2·nH2O (a mixture of silicon molecules and water). According to the display of the hue of the opal body, it can be divided into colorless, white, light gray, dark gray and black. Unlike other gemstones, opal's fascinating colors are based on a random "color game" that presents various colors in the spectrum.

Opal is an amorphous non-crystalline gemstone that is deposited and solidified into amorphous gemstones from gelatinous or liquid silica deposited in cracks and caves in the earth. It also contains animal and plant residues, such as trees, carapace and bones. . The moisture content in high grade 5 opals can be as high as 10. Usually the refractive index of opal ranges from 1.38 to 1.60, and the Mohs hardness range is 5.5-6.5.

During the formation process of opal, the silica solution flows like magma into the gaps and empty ore zones of the inland strata and is deposited. Sedimentation occurs at a depth of about forty meters below the surface, and sediments increase in thickness by one centimeter approximately every five million years. After this stage, during the one to two million years period, the sediments began to slowly solidify as climate changes. Opal is the part that is not bonded to other sediments and has taken a long time to harden.

We usually divide natural opal into two categories: "Placius Opal" and "Common Opal". Plasius Opal is bright in color and can show full color change, making it relatively rare and precious. Opal that is dull in color and cannot show color change is called ordinary opal. Ordinary opal is found and produced in small quantities all over the world.

95% of the opals mined in opal mining areas are ordinary opals, usually only white, gray or black. They are only suitable as background lining stones for "Debolai Opal" and "Trembola Opal". The remaining 5 are graded opals with some colors, but 95 of them are just ordinary grades. In other words, only about 0.25 of the mined opal can be called truly valuable opal.

Placius opal is defined as a color-changing silicon opal. The term "color game" is specifically used to describe the stunningly beautiful changing colors of precious opals.

Opal produced in Australia is sometimes called a "sedimentary gem" because it is mainly formed and produced in the sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic Great Artesian Basin. Plasius Opal usually contains 6-10% moisture, and it contains small silica particles arranged in a regular pattern. Its Mohs hardness is generally between 5.5-6.5, and its specific gravity is mainly between 1.9-2.3 depending on the moisture content.

During the condensation process of silica, the water content gradually decreases and the gel forms into spheres. The spheres naturally adhere to small particles of silica. The size of these amorphous silica particles ranges from 1500 angstroms to 3500 angstroms (1 angstrom is equal to 100 million parts). one centimeter). Although these pellets are small, they are filled with opal and arranged very regularly. Since they are round spheres, structurally there are very small gaps (like the gaps that appear between many marble spheres after being placed in a container), and these gaps are arranged three-dimensionally. The color of Opal is produced by the decomposition of white light through optical diffraction of these regularly arranged gaps. When the silicon particles are relatively large, the gaps will be relatively large, and red or orange diffracted light will appear. If the silicon particles are relatively small, the gaps will also be relatively small, and the blue-violet spectrum will be decomposed through diffraction. The excessive color changes are like rainbow changes. The strongest light diffraction effect is the largest gap size. Therefore, the surface of red-colored opal is often very bright, while the blue-colored opal is relatively dim.

In short, the color changes of Plessian Opal come from the diffraction of white light by the regularly arranged silicon particles and the gaps between them. The diameter of the silicon particles determines the color distribution range of opal. Small silicon particles will produce the usual bluish-violet color of opal, while conversely it will produce the precious red color. Each opal has a different value according to its own quality. The main determining factors are: embryo body tone, color change game, color, brightness; pattern, size and shape, etc.

Classification of Opal

2. Natural Opal

Natural Opal is a completely natural raw gemstone that is directly mined without artificial treatment. What we call raw opal is a natural opal that has been cut, ground, and polished to become a whole piece of natural opal that can be appreciated. The original opal is divided into the following types:

1. Black opal

The one that shows bright colors on the dark embryo body tone is called black opal. Black opal is produced in Leiden Ridge, New South Wales, Australia and is the most famous and expensive opal variety. Black opal does not mean that it is completely black, but that its body color is darker than that of opal whose body color is lighter.

3. White Opal

Some people also call it "milk opal". White Opal presents a light embryonic tone and is mainly produced in Coober Pedy, South Australia, Australia. White Opal is relatively common due to its lighter embryo color and large production volume. White opal cannot show contrasting bright colors like black opal. However, high-quality white opal with very beautiful colors is also found from time to time.

4. Sparkling Opal

Sparkling Opal is composed of opal that can show color attached to iron ore that cannot be separated. It is mainly produced in Queensland, Australia. This kind of opal can only be cut together with iron ore. The very thin colored opal is wrapped on the surface of the iron ore. The color of the opal looks very beautiful due to the dark iron ore. Sparkling opals come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from as small as a pea to as large as a family car. Sometimes a whole block of sparkling opal has natural cracks at the joint that can separate it into two halves, resulting in two seemingly polished opal surfaces. Opal's thin surface layer is also often destroyed during the ore cutting process.

5. Crystal Opal

Crystal Opal can be any of the above mentioned, but its embryonic body color is transparent or translucent. You can even see through the crystal opal to see other items behind it. Crystal Opal can have dark and light body tones, so we call them "Crystal Black Opal" or "Crystal White Opal" according to the different depths of the body tones

6. Cornerstone Opal

The entire bedrock of reticulated opal is filled in the fish-tooth-shaped gaps between iron or iron ore.

Usually they have nice fire-like colors. Adamoka Cornerstone Opal can be soaked in sugar water and then boiled in acid water to produce carbon deposits, thereby giving it a dark background and making the entire Cornerstone Opal appear more beautiful in color.

2. Processed or synthetic opal

1. Synthetic opal

A silicon opal quilt made in the laboratory that has the same structure as natural opal Called synthetic opal. The more well-known brand of synthetic opal is Gilson Opal. The following points are the differences between natural and synthetic opal:

*Synthetic opal often exhibits unusually bright colors, and the color patches are often larger than natural opal.

*The color blocks of each color of synthetic opal show a regular snakeskin-like pattern.

*The production method of synthetic opal cannot reproduce the complex color changes of natural opal, so the pattern transition is very unnatural.

2. Fake Opal

A colored metal opal placed in a relatively clear hard plastic interlayer or epoxy resin is an easy-to-identify fake.

3. Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal

This is a special hand-made gemstone. Deborah Opal is a very thin opal and

Black background lining stones (usually painted black with dark common opal or light common opal

paint) are glued together with adhesive. Because the Opal is thinner, the surface of Tremblay Opal is covered with a layer of arc-shaped transparent quartz material or glass to amplify the pattern and protect the Opal surface. People usually use them to imitate the valuable black opal, which is beautiful but affordable. Here are some illustrations:

*Raw opal - is naturally thick enough opal that has been polished and processed.

*Debolet Opal is a relatively thin double-layer hand-made Opal bonded together with a black background lining stone as a base.

Deborah and Tremblay opal are cheaper alternatives to black opal. The disadvantage is that they are bonded with glue, and if they are repeatedly soaked in water and get damp, they will produce a foggy surface phenomenon.

Debolay Opal and Tremblay Opal

You should be familiar with the artificial gemstones we usually refer to as Debolay Opal and Tremblay Opal. It uses natural silica glued on the black background lining stone to imitate the "original opal", so that the opal attached to the black background lining stone presents a more vivid color. Of course, it's much cheaper than raw opal because it's actually only a small piece of real opal.

1. Deborah Opal: (Double-layer Opal)

The background lining stone can generally use colorless black opal stone, other light-colored ordinary opal spray paint, Opaque black glass or hard plastic material

A thin piece of opal (usually crystal opal or white opal). Although it can be of various thicknesses, it is often thicker than those found in Tremblay opal. The opal contained is thicker, the edges of the opal are rounded, and the entire Deborah opal will have an arc-shaped surface. You can identify Deborah Opal by looking around it. If the two pieces mentioned above are bonded together with glue, you should be able to see a very straight seam line between the colored opal and the background lining stone. between.

2. Tremblay Opal: (Sandwich Opal)

The black background lining stone is exactly the same as that used in Tremblay Opal.

Very thin opal is embedded in it.

Very clear and transparent glass, quartz or plastic is ground into an arc shape and covered on the surface. Opal is usually very thin, and the transparent arc body covering it makes the color amplify more beautifully. To some extent, it is also a kind of protection for Opal.

Since Tremblay Opal has an arc-shaped cover that does not contain any opal, it is easy to identify. In addition, compared with the surface of the stone, Tremblay Opal has glass light reflection, which is not like the light reflection on the stone surface, which is more natural and soft. You can also identify it by looking at the seam lines next to Tremblay Opal. In addition, if the material of the background lining stone is black plastic, it will look different from the stone.

But mostly we still use black ordinary opal and brown iron ore as background lining stones.

3. Preservation of Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal

Because they are bonded together with glue, long-term immersion in water will cause joint damage. Water seepage (this does not mean that your opal will be ruined just because you got caught in the rain). If it is penetrated by water, the surface of Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal will appear foggy or gray, so you should always pay attention to its changes and avoid your Deborah Opal or Trembolo Opal. Penetrated by water.

Please note that many instructions about opal will make your concept a little confusing. Most of the common treatments they say about opal are for original opal, not debolai opal. and Tremblay Opal. Only Deborah and Tremblay opals need to be protected from water penetration while raw opal does not. Deborah and Tremblay opals can be wiped clean frequently with a soft cloth and a mild detergent, but do not immerse them in water. Additionally, any opal should avoid bleaching, chemicals, and ultrasonic cleaning.

In short, although Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal are relatively cheap, they are also very beautiful jewelry. Maybe the same beautiful original opal costs ten times more! Because raw opal is relatively rare, many people use this processing method so that everyone can have the beauty of black opal while affording its price. Despite this, you should still know exactly what kind of product you are consuming when purchasing, and you should also know how to prevent your Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal from being damaged due to water seepage. Also seek the necessary identification certificates to obtain information on whether your opal is mezzanine, to avoid paying high prices for mezzanine opal.

4. Common misunderstandings and correct concepts

Wrong concepts Correct concepts

Opal should be often soaked in water to prevent cracking. The original opal also needs to be regularly moisturized and rubbed with oil for care. Protecting it from cracking. The structure of raw opal is non-porous and sealed, which means that there is no point in soaking it in water, oil or other liquids. If you leave debolai opal or treble opal in place for a long time, If the opal is immersed in water, its surface will fog up and be damaged.

Black opal is black (like black agate). Black opal is an opal with a dark color in the embryo, not the whole opal. The gemstone is black.

Strong light will cause the color of Opal's legs. Opal relies on diffracted white light to present its color. Will not fade due to strong light.

Rubbing opal with oil will cause it to be damaged and lose its color. In fact, rubbing opal with oil is meaningless.

Rubbing with glycerin, toothpaste or soaking in water will make opal heavy. The luster of the original opal will eventually need to be re-polished due to slight scratches during use (usually after many years of use)

Soaking the opal in a rose-red liquid will enhance its luster. Color has no meaning

Light will cause the color to shine through from inside the Opal. The color of Opal is due to the diffraction effect of natural light

Warming Opal with your hands will enhance its brightness. Extreme heat and drought can cause opal to dry out and crack.

Valuable black opal can be worth more than diamonds

Treat opal well

Because we love opal, we are happy to tell our customers how Protect Opal so that everyone can always be enchanted by these beautiful, personalized gems. Please take a moment to read the following guidelines, they may be very useful to you.

Maintaining opal is actually very easy, as long as you have a little common sense. Before you want to know how to care for opal, you should go to our "Types of Opal" to learn about the classifications of opal.

1. Maintenance of raw opal

Raw opal is a relatively delicate gemstone with a hardness equivalent to glass, so it is very important to treat your raw opal carefully to avoid damage. , if you are going to do something that may damage your opal, you should first take off the opal jewelry you are wearing (for example, if you are going to work in the garden, move furniture, etc.). Many people mistakenly believe that original opal cannot be placed in water. In fact, that is only for Debolai Opal and Trembola Opal. There is no problem with putting raw opal into water. In fact, most opal itself contains a certain proportion of water.

If encountering extreme climate drought or rapid changes in temperature, opal will occasionally crack. So you want to try to avoid extreme heat (boiling water) and extreme drought (desert) as well as drastic changes in temperature.

3. Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal

Different from the original opal, the most important thing about Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal is Do not put in water. We have mentioned this again in other chapters, as it will cause your opal surface to fog up.

3. Cleaning Opal

Original opal can be cleaned with warm water and detergent and a soft brush or soft cloth. Never use bleach. Deborah and Tremblay opals can be wiped clean with a damp cloth and detergent, but they should never be immersed in water.

Don’t let anyone use ultrasonic cleaning on your opal, as the vibrations caused by strong microwaves may crack the original opal. Ultrasonic cleaning also requires opal to be put into water, which will allow your Debolai Opal and Trembola Opal to be penetrated by water.

4. Storing Opal

If you need to store Opal for a short period of time, just put it in a soft cloth bag. If it needs to be stored for a long time, the original opal should be wrapped in cotton or wool with a little water and then placed in a plastic bag. This is mainly to prevent the adverse effects of dry climate on the opal.

In the 1980s, many Japanese businessmen made major mistakes in preserving opal. They stored the priceless and precious black opal in a special drying box for a long time. Finally, they were surprised to find that the black opal had dried out due to lack of moisture for a long time.

We hope this maintenance instructions are useful to you. If you have any further questions, please contact us immediately.

Lucky Opal

Medieval superstition held that evil powers and diseases came from colored stones. In the 11th century, Pope Marbode of Rennes described Opal as follows: "It is the patron saint of thieves. On dark cloudy nights, it gives the thieves keen vision but blocks the eyes of others." One argument is that opal has a sinful spirituality that allows criminals to use it to become a talisman for thieves, spies, and robbers, causing harm to society.

In the legends of the time, Opal was associated with misfortune. A goldsmith who made jewelry for the royal family suffered a disaster due to opal. He accidentally damaged the expensive opal while making opal jewelry. Louis VI felt that his behavior was unforgivable, so he ordered the opal to be chopped off. The hands of a goldsmith working with him. From then on, he and other craftsmen like him felt that it was all Opal's fault.

At the end of Sir Walter Scott's best-selling novel "St. Anne of Gilstein" (1829), Opal's concept of spreading misfortune was once again misunderstood. The plot at the end of the novel put Opal It was associated with bad luck, and the consequences at the time were unimaginable. In fact, most people have not read the third chapter of the novel carefully, but most people know the final plot of the novel-the heroine is bewitched, and when she touches the holy water, the magical opal on her chest loses its color, and in the end But she died.

The famous gemologist and businessman Sy Fraser carefully reviewed the above article and pointed out the error in the novel in "The Gem Trader's Journey": the heroine's opal actually belonged to her in a foreign country. The discoloration of opal is to remind its owner to prevent poisoning. Even though many scholars defended Opal, the value of Opal plummeted in just six months during that period, and the entire European gem market was depressed for ten years. George F. Kenz said in "The Wonderful Knowledge of Beautiful Gems": "If you don't read Sir Walter Scott's novel very carefully, you will wonder whether opal brings bad luck. This wonderful novel, it In fact, there is no intention to associate opal with bad luck."

Some diamond merchants were introduced to the gorgeous opal in the 19th century and early 20th century and directly felt a threat to the diamond business on which they relied for survival. Opal, with its bright colors, has always posed the threat of diverting consumer groups to the diamond trade.

Many diamond merchants protect their businesses by spreading rumors that opals are associated with bad luck.

On the other hand, opals are more delicate than diamonds. Perhaps because opals need to be treated more carefully, putting a little more effort into them is also considered bad luck in the eyes of some people.

In fact, in ancient Roman times, gemstones were talismans that brought good luck. Opal symbolizes the rainbow and brings a bright future to its owner. Because its clear surface is a metaphor for pure love, it is also known as the "Cupid Stone". Earlier races used Opal to represent traditions and qualities with magical power. Opal can allow its owners to see endless possibilities in the future. It is believed that it can have the same function as a magic mirror, which can load emotions and wishes, release Depressed.

The early Greeks believed that Opal gave them the power to foresight and predict the future. The Arabs believed that they came from heaven, and in Arab legends, opals were believed to be able to sense lightning in the sky through them. The Romans believed that opal would bring hope and purity.

In the 7th century, everyone believed that Opal had magical powers. Shakespeare at the end of the century described Opal like this: "That is the queen of magical gems." When Easterners talk about Opal, they say it is the "anchor of hope." Opal is also revered as the birthstone of October.

Although some people in ancient times believed that opal brought bad luck, we believe that it is very unlucky if you do not own an opal. One person who agrees with our view is Darry ·Hammer, he opened a famous opal shop on the corner of a small town in Victoria. Darry, who won many lottery tickets in the 1960s and 1970s, attributes his $200,000 win to the opal that brought him good luck.

How to buy

If you are not familiar with Opal, you will feel blind and timid when buying Opal. We understand your feelings very well. The reason why we try to provide you with as much knowledge and information about opal as possible is to help you make the right choice during the purchase process.

Before purchasing, make sure you are looking at Deborah Opal, Tremblay Opal, or Original Opal. Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal glue a small amount of very thin real opal onto a black background lining stone, making the opal darker and brighter (imitating very expensive black opal). The advantage of buying Deborah Opal and Trembolo Opal is the cheap price. But after all, the quality of original opal is completely different. Purchasing original opal can also be called a long-term investment. After identifying the original opal, you should carefully observe which category it belongs to:

7. Black opal

The royal family in opal, due to their shape and rarity, So prices are usually pretty stable. Black opal is also the highest quality opal in the world.

8. Sparkling Opal

As the sister gem of black opal, it is little known, but they have the same beautiful color. Because the silica is thinly wrapped on the iron ore, the entire opal contains a lot of iron ore weight, so the price per carat of scintillating opal is cheaper than that of black opal. Smart businessmen sell sparkling opal in carats, and try to leave a lot of iron ore on the back of the opal to increase its weight when cutting. Because it is based on iron ore, gleaming opal is harder than other opals.

9. White Opal

The embryo body tone is like milk, which is relatively ordinary. Such embryo body tone usually makes the color contrast of opal less obvious, but I also I have seen white opal with very bright colors.

10. Crystal Opal

Crystal Opal The above various opals have translucent or transparent embryonic body tones. If crystal opal has beautiful colors, it is very useful. Expensive, such as "Crystal Black Opal".

Choose an opal! They are all unique, just like different people. Brilliant red on a black body tone is the best value, but maybe you like blue, so why not choose a beautiful blue opal? Red is the most expensive, followed by orange, yellow, green, and blue. The dazzling opal is the best. Don’t pay too much attention to the color and embryonic tone it presents.

You should ask the seller who sells the opal to you to sign a guarantee of authenticity (or a certificate of authenticity). This is not just to prove the value to the insurance company or to resell it, but you should have Such buying habits make the responsibilities of both parties clear.

Read our "The Value of Opal" section carefully to learn more about the general principles of how to determine the value of an opal and relative to other gemstones. Although everyone is trying hard, there is no fixed formula to calculate the price of opal so far, and experience is always irreplaceable. You should always learn and practice more. Also, it’s a good idea to buy from a merchant with a good reputation.

If you are inspecting an opal, first make sure it is dry and then look carefully at the light to see if there are any cracks on the surface of the opal. Do not confuse the difference between cracks and the natural lines on the surface of the opal. There are Cracked gems have little value. If there are any cracks in the opal itself, the seller selling it to you should have a responsibility to let you know.

We must admit that there are some problems that are not easy to solve when buying opal through the Internet:

1. How do you know that what you are buying is the opal in the photo?

2. Are you really willing to give your personal credit card information directly to a seller you have never met?

I think everyone knows the answer.

Okay O(∩_∩)O~