Opal-AN (Hyalite Opal) ("Blood Vessel Opal")

Item Description

This is a beautiful display quality specimen that came from a discovery in 2019 at a new mine San Luis Potosi. A very good friend of ours collected every one of these pieces by hand, and we purchased all of the top pieces from the find. These Opals are certainly attractive and interesting as they are good quality, aesthetic and show wonderful neon green fluorescence under SW UV light. This small cabinet display piece has several interesting characteristics featuring gemmy to translucent colorless to soft grey colored spherical groups, "balls" of Hyalite on minor matrix. The lower portions of the specimen has more of a Chalcedony appearance with grey / smoky colored spheres. The top most portion of the piece is the most interesting aspect because it is not only the gemmiest section but you can clearly see small golden to orange colored iron oxide inclusions that resemble thin organic "capillaries" or "blood vessels", which created the nickname "Blood Vessel Opal" for this material. This color / phenomenon is truly unique for Opal and really gives the piece character along with wonderful color. If you collect Opals, don't miss out on this one as they are very limited on the market and you honestly can't find anything like on the market. A great piece for anybody who collects Mexican minerals, worldwide Opals or fluorescent specimens. Weight on the specimen is 52.70 grams. It's important to note that "Hyalite" is no longer the correct term for this material as it is now called Opal-AN.