If I asked you what the difference between white and black opal is, there is a chance your answer would be something like: Well the main difference must be that black Opal is black and white Opal is white, right? Well actually nothing could be further from the truth. Don't worry though you would not be the only one who would make the assumption that black Opal is entirely black and white Opal is entirely white. The colour actually refers to the body tone and not the colour of the Opal. The following Opal body tone chart gives you some idea of how the body tones can differ in the Opal world....

Did you know that 90% of the worlds Opal is found in Australia? You also might not realise that depending on which Opal mine you are at you will find very different types of Australian Opal. You can find black Opal in New South Wales, white Opal in Queensland and boulder and matrix Opal in South Australia and Queensland. After the break I go over each of the different types of Australian Opal. Black Opal - The Queen of Opals Of all the different types of Opal in Australia, Black Opal is the most valuable with some stones being sold for over $15,000! Upon seeing a Black Opal you will be st...

If you are an opal lover but not so well-off, doublets and triplets might be your first choice. As you probably know, there are three categories of opal - solid opal, doublet and triplet. Natural opal or solid opal refers to the gem that is cut from a single piece of material, while doublets and triplets contain only a thin layer of solid opal. Solid opal is the most valuable of the three and therefore the most expensive. Doublets and triplets are made to resemble the solid opal and due to that fact they are significantly cheaper. As the name suggests, doublets consist of a small amount of...