Gemstones - Fire Opal

It is in Mexico that the most significant fire opal deposits in the world lie. Rock strata containing opals run through the Mexican highlands, and with a few exceptions they lay hidden in cavities and crevices which is extracted in open-cast mines. The mining work gives rise to impressive canyons with walls up to 60 meters high and labyrinthine passages which wind their way through the mining areas. A beautiful site.

Fire Opals are also found in other countries, in Guatemala, in the USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia and Turkey, but these are mostly sites of little or no economic significance. Except Brazil, where several years ago, in an agate mine near Campos Borges, fire opals colored yellow to orange were discovered. They distinguish themselves by their beautiful color, often with slight clouding, but without the Opal "play of color". Their warm, expressive orange comes in all varieties from yellow to light red, sometimes with a brownish undertone. These Brazilian fire opals are setting new trends in the fascinating world of gemstones.

The warm glow of the fire opal beguiles jewel enthusiasts the world over because the radiant orange simply cannot be ignored.

The fire opal consists of silicic acid with a relatively high water content and the color itself comes from fine traces of iron oxide.

Fire Opals have a hardness of between 6 and 6.5 on the Mohs scale and need to be protected in a protective setting.

All fire opals are not the same so we differentiate common fire opals depending on their quality, are either faceted or cut into cabochons. The valuable ones are also have the gaudy play of color typical of opals. With or without the play of color, fire opal plays its part as a top quality gemstone.

The fire opal is the lucky stone of those born under the sign Aries.

Fire opals are either faceted (as far as their transparency allows) or cut cabochon. Like other opals, cabochon is the shape which best brings out the rich glow.

Brazilian raw stones are cut into other shapes because their sheer size gives the cutters and designers (almost) unlimited freedom for both work and play.

When setting up the cut of the fire opal, the cutter must pay attention to the direction in which the stone shows its play of color to the best advantage and must take extra care not to come into close contact with high heat. The water content of the fire opal is unevenly distributed and the stone can crack if dried artificially. When the raw stones are found in a chalky white weathering crust is a sign that the stone has aged through loss of water. This can create a cloudy and cracked fire opal. An experienced gemstone specialist can judge by where it was found whether a fire opal is going to be durable or not. The drier the place where it is found, the more durable the fire opal.

The tolerance to extreme heat, its resistance to acids, cosmetics, alkaline solutions, intense light over long periods and sharp objects is poor. These unfavorable conditions will remove the moisture from the opal, which can make it cloudy and cracked.

The more transparency and 'fire' the opal has, and the more intense the deep red of its body color, the more valuable it will be. The rarest, and highly esteemed, is the intense red-orange fire opal from Mexico with its strong play of color. A higher value is placed on fine cabochons than on good, faceted fire opals. Cabochons glow from orange to red.