OPAL: Legend and truth about one of the most fascinating and rare stones

Its name comes from the Latin language "opalus", itself derived from changes in the greek word "opallios" and from the Sanskrit "ùpalah".

The Opal has the characteristic of splitting the light into its component colors.
The Greeks considered who the opal had the property to induce prophetic powers to those who wore the gemstone.

Instead, the Arab people believed that the gemstone was generated directly in the sky and that the iridescence was produced by lightning.

For a more detailed description of the gem, it is necessary to divide it into two types.

The natural opals and opals that, albeit from a natural base, have undergone The intervention of man and are called "doublets" or "triplets".

The natural opals:

 Opals blacks
characterized by a dark matrix, but by the rich tones, can present the characteristic of rainbow iridescence. Are certainly the most rare and expensive.

 Boulder opals:
characterized by various forms and colors show the characteristic color harlequin and are perhaps the best known and valued

 Opal noble:
white, colorless or slightly bluish, show a wide range of colors "harlequin" 

 Opal common:
opaque and colorless no "harlequin", not be defined a gemstone

The natural opals, but characterized by manipulation

 Doublets:
are made from thin sections of opal glued on a support of artificial material or typical rock of the places of extraction. Its value is much more valuable than a hat-trick and has a higher content in opal.

 Triplets:
are characterized by gluing overlapping of three different materials.
At the center, a state thin opal, under a base of artificial material or typical rock of the points of extraction of opal, above a layer of transparent material, typically quartz.

A bit 'of history and legend:

Astrology assigns the Opal to the those born under the constellation of Capricorn

In the early decades of the 800, the merchants of Diamonds London, in order to protect their market, they spread the rumor that these gemstones would bring bad luck to those who wore, deliberately misrepresenting the story of Walter Scott "Anne of Geierstein" whose heroine wore opal that lost all its brightness at the same moment of his death.

The action of the merchants had the desired success: the demand for this type of gemstones greatly diminished. However, the decrease in demand was not lasting, since the discovery of new deposits in Autralia the Opals returned to the fore.

Australia is still the largest producer of this gemstone formed millions of years ago .