Fire Opal (with "Contra Luz" color flash) on Rhyolite (ex Allen Heyl Collection)

Item Description

Some of the most well known Fire Opal in the world comes from the Queretaro District in Mexico. These pieces 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 with such vivid fire as seen in this specimen. In reflected light, the Opal in this specimen has a golden color, 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 Opal. Now the color flash is best seen in sunlight or with a strong flashlight against a black background, and this piece was photographed under a strong flashlight to show the color flash. When strongly lit, the stone shows flashes of blue, green, red and gold. These flashes of color are only seen in about 1% of all Mexican Fire Opals! It's a very attractive specimen, as it exhibits and effect that is virtually exclusive to this material. The piece is from the Allen V. Heyl Collection, who was a friend of a the Kosnar family and for whom the species Aheylite was named.