Louisiana Opal (historic old classic!) ex Houran Coll.

Item Description

A very rare opal gemstone specimen, from this historic USA opal locality that is so old and difficult to collect, that most of us do not realize it ever even existed. Jim Houran spent decades collecting fine and rare USA-origin gemstones, and this comes from his collection with notes. The opal, which shows color flashes of lavender and purple, is embedded within opalized sandstone, apparently a unique occurrence. Cut in 1993, the stone perhaps dates back to the older zone of operation (see letter attached). Louisiana opal was a big draw for tourism here until the land was bought by the government and closed to collecting in 1997. Rarely seen, today, on the market. The specimen comes with an old postcard dated 1910, promoting opal as a birthstone.