Fire Opal (with color flash)

Item Description

Some of the most well known Fire Opal in the world is from Mexico. These stones are among some of the biggest, brightest and most intense color Fire Opals from North America. There has been a surge in the price of fine quality Fire Opal from Mexico in the last few years, as the material seems to be more and more difficult to obtain, especially in such vivid stones like this one. This "Oval Cabochon" gem shows a lovely bright orange hue, with slight cream colored zoning, but the most impressive aspect of the stone is the fact that it shows the highly desirable and seldom seen COLOR FLASH or "Contra Luz" effect which is the multicolor "rainbow"-like array that is seen when strong light is transmitted through the stone. Now the color flash is best seen in sunlight or with a strong flashlight against a black background, and this stone was photographed under a strong flashlight to show the color flash. When strongly lit, the stone shows flashes of purple, green, red, orange and gold. These flashes of color are only seen in about 1% of all Mexican Fire Opals ! It's a very attractive stone, and would make a great piece of jewelry, or would stand on its own as a beautiful gem.