Here you can find basic infomation about one of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious gemstones, Opal. Opal is predominantly found in Australia and is one of only six types of precious gemstones found on planet earth along with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls. This section covers the different types opals, where they get their amazing colous, what opal doublets & triplets are as well as other general information.

The technical definition is that an Opal is a mineralid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl & basalt. You can learn more about Opal, what it is, where its from and its formation here…

The different Opal types can look quite different to each other. Everyone seems to have a favorite type. Here you can read an introduction to the different types of Opal including Boulder, Crystal, Black & White…

Black Opal is the most valuable of all the Opal types. It has a darker body tone causing the rainbow colous to stand out more. Read a detailed explanation about Black Opals.

These are Opals that have been modified to take on a similar appearance to Black Opals. They have a black backing aheared to a thin slice of Opal which causes a vibrancy to the colours. Read more about Opal Doublets & Triplets.