What Types of Opals Are There?

White Opal

• Look for flashes of color called fire against a white background in white opal, the most common variety of precious opal. Treasured across Europe since ancient times, white opals briefly lost popularity in the middle of the 19th century and somehow became associated with bad luck.

  As its name suggests, this type of opal has a creamy white background that is slightly translucent. White opal, mined in Australia, Hungary, Nevada and Idaho, can be obtained relatively cheaply thanks to its more common nature.

Black Opal

• Expect prices comparable to diamonds due to the rarity of black opals, sometimes reaching thousands of dollars per gram for uncut stones. Pure black specimens with green and blue fire come from only a few places in the world. Lightning Ridge, Australia, is home to the most prolific black opal mines, but other specimens have turned up in Nevada and Idaho.

  Because of the rarity, gem cutters, known as lapidaries, will often combine lighter opals and dark stones such as jet, into one gem known as a doublet. The black background of the jet gives the illusion of precious black opal.

Crystal Opal

• Marvel at the fire of crystal opal. Despite its name, crystal opal does not have a crystalline structure. Named for its transparent nature, crystal opal varies in color from completely clear to slightly cloudy. Most commonly found in very thin veins, jewelers and lapidary artists typically use crystal opal to make doublets.

  Due to the rare nature of thicker pieces, expect to pay a substantial sum for a piece of jewelry featuring a completely transparent gem, but not nearly the cost of black opal.

Fire Opal

• Pick up a beautiful red fire opal from Mexico to make a bold statement. While some specimens exhibit the play of colors found in other opals, called fire, these red, orange or yellow body color gives Mexican fire opals their name. Most specimens do not exhibit opalescent plays of color.

  Of all opal varieties, only Mexican fire opals can be found as faceted gems. In its native country, fire opals have a bad reputation as being unlucky and very few Mexicans purchase them. While dark red specimens still command high prices, yellow and orange gems do not hold nearly the same price tag.