What is that stone in the earrings on my profile page: African Opal. Opals are non-crystalline gemstones that can contain up to 30% water. They are actually a hardened silica gel. Its possible for them to dry out and crack, and they are relatively soft and fragile gemstones. They rank between 5.5-6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. However African Opals are not true opals. They are actually an Impression Jasper or a Chalcedony stone. Just like true opals this stone is made of silica, however the cooling process of the silica created a tiny amount of cryptocrystalline structure changing this rock from opal to chalcedony. This is a beautiful stone that ranges in natural colors of milky beiges, iron oranges, and sea aquas. Many jewelers also use jasper that has been dyed and heat treated for a range of man made colors. Jasper takes dyed colors easily because of its soft nature. Mostly I prefer to use naturally colored stones as the ones above are, however I do also use dyed and heat treated chalcedony as in the pink chalcedony stones in the necklace below
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:00:00 +0000
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