Opal Encyclopedia
Dear Opal Enthusiasts:
Like most precious gemstones, a lot has been written about opals over the years. But few reviews have attracted as much attention as this stone which has been closely allied to the continent of Australia. And although it cannot be said that this country is the sole possessor of this remarkable natural wonder, it must be stated that if quantity and quality is the measure, Australia is certainly in a unique position to make such a claim. Yes, it is reported that over 90% of the world’s opals come from here and because it is such an ancient and dry continent, the location has been kind to us in producing probably the best opal stones on the planet.
But Australia, being such a young continent from a modern history point of view, has not handled its precious possession in a very businesslike fashion. The south Africans very quickly saw the potential of the diamond, and quickly formed buying and selling cartels, as well as skilled advertising agents to make sure the world soon new that ‘Diamonds are forever’ and… ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’ It became almost impossible to get married without owning one. This was brilliant marketing to support a very saleable item.
But we Australians? Well… we’ve treated opal pretty much the same way as we treat most things we dig out of the ground down here. Ship it overseas. And hope that the cash we get for the raw materials will support out economy. One day we will wake up to the fact that half the continent will have been dug up and transported to Europe, the USA and many other parts of the world, and we will be living in the holes left behind.
This practice has produced a Hodge Podge opal industry. Until relatively recently, there was really no nomenclature [naming system] of opals. The terms used to describe them were made up by the people who dug them. And the price was established by supply and demand, much like any other commodity. In recent times this has changed by the effort made to name the different types of opal. See Opal Nomenclature. But, in the opinion of this author, the creators of this naming system have not gone far enough to explain opals. It’s one thing to describe the different types of opal. Quite another to come up with an explanation to all the different patterns that present themselves within those categories. This matter will be discussed later in this presentation, but for the time being, the following encyclopedia is an attempt to describe opal in layman’s terms, and although admittedly imperfect, it is hoped it will make the online community more aware of this wonderful gem. Along with our own ‘wiki’ we offer you an opal chat forum, where you can both ask questions about the stone and its related industry, as well as offer your own comments on the subject. Like the online Wikipedia, we are open to your suggestions, and where it can be seen that our explanation doesn’t line up with current views, we will change it to be more accurate.
What you are about to experience is a basic presentation of opal facts. We have a much larger consideration of the subject published in a CD called ‘The Ordinary Blokes Guide To Opal” This is also available online as an e-book. But for the time being, we hope you enjoy the following presentation. However for most visitors to this site, it will suffice to get to know about the stone as a casual matter of interest or to make a buying decision. It will allow you to know what you are buying and how to look after it. For hobbyists and dedicated opal buffs, a more extensive analysis is available.
Yours Sincerely,
Peter Brusaschi
