re: #40 HoosierHoops

I love Opal..I collect gems..
So you are telling me my late friend Danny B. Who took a trip to Australia and returned with Fire Opals was just full of shit? Or he got ripped off…
I saw the fire opals from down under with my eyes..
Weird

Like I said… the term “fire opal” is a type of opal… “Fire opals are transparent to translucent opals with warm body colors yellow, orange, orange-yellow or red and they do not usually show any play-of-color, although occasionally a stone will exhibit bright green flashes. The most famous source of fire opals is the state of Quertaro in Mexico and these opals are commonly called Mexican fire opals.”

Opal WITH fire in them commonly refers to most of the opal that has a play of multiple colors in it. There is one mine in Australia which has the name “Desert Fire Opal” but that is the name of the mine, not the type of opal that comes out of it. That mine is in Coober Pedy and all the opal in that region is mainly white opals (white base with multiple colors) or crystal opal (opal that has started to crystalize so it looks a bit like white glass with multiple colors in it).

I never said what your friend has is not valuable, I am just trying to clear up a very common confusion in terms when it comes to opals. Why in heaven’s name would I want to lie to or tell you something that is not true.