Opal with "Contra Luz" color flash

Item Description

Recently there has been some very attractive and impressive Fire Opals coming out of Ethiopia. These gems rival some of the better Mexican stones for color, gemminess and the ever popular "Contra Luz" effect. This "Pear Cabochon" cut gem has has a beautiful soft golden color in transmitted light, but in reflected light, it shows the highly desirable and seldom seen COLOR FLASH or "Contra Luz" effect with a beautiful rainbow-like array of color! 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, this stone shows flashes of blue and green. These flashes of color are only seen in about 1% of the Fire Opals that I have seen from Ethiopia! It's a very attractive stone, and would make a great piece of jewelry, or would stand on its own as a beautiful gem. Valued at $302.00 high retail. How often does one have a chance to purchase a completely natural multi-color Opal gem for such a reasonable starting bid ?