Description

Natural Precious Opal Hand Carved Pendant

Depicting a lady’s face with wolf image above. Late 19th Century (start of the Art Nouveau movement).

Specifications

✓ Origin: Mexico – region of Querétaro (Central Mexico). From the Santa Maria del Iris mine (opened in 1870).
✓ Size: 50 x 28 mm
✓ Mint condition

Information on Opal

Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica; its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%.
Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid and not as a mineral.
There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color (iridescence), common opal does not.
Play-of-color is defined as “a pseudo chromatic optical effect resulting in flashes of colored light from certain minerals, as they are turned in white light
The internal structure of precious opal causes it to diffract light, resulting in play-of-color.
The term opalescence is commonly used to describe this unique and beautiful phenomenon, which in gemology is termed play of color.
Depending on the conditions in which it formed, opal may be transparent, translucent, or opaque and the background color may be white, black, or nearly any color of the visual spectrum.

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