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

This "Emerald Brilliant" cut Hyalite Opal gem is translucent with a nearly colorless interior, but the most important aspect of the piece is the fact that it shows tiny golden capillary-like inclusions of iron oxide just below the surface, which has given this material the nickname "Blood Vessel Opal". If you look closely you can see the tiny fibrous inclusions that have an almost organic appearance. This is truly unique and interesting Opal and we've never seen anything like it. We're proud to be the first ones to bring this Opal to the public. We had this stone cut from a very small parcel of rough that was deemed worthy for faceting and though we hope to have more in the future, the nature of this material does not allow for a lot of faceted stones. This gem came from rough that was discovered in the beginning of 2016 by a friend of ours who is working a claim with a few of the locals. One of the great aspects of the material is that, unlike a lot of Mexican Opal, and Opal in general for that matter, this particular Opal is incredibly durable and strong, and doesn't fall apart, crumble or chip when cut and / or polished. This is significant because these gems will make great centerpieces for jewelry! For years this material was referred to as Hyalite Opal, but is now listed as a variety of Opal called Opal-AN. It is aspecifically an amorphous (often colorless) form of Opal that is found in spherical aggregates, which are often intergrown or stacked with a bead-like appearance. The listing on mindat.org states that "The 'A' in the name stands for amorphous; the subscript N is to imply its structure is network-like similar to silica glass; however, it still contains about 3-8% water." It's not often that we see such richly colored Hyalite, and considering it's from a very limited discovery, it's a great opportunity to purchase something that nobody else has right now. Don't miss out on this beautiful and rare gem of this well-known Opal variety. Also, Opal is one of the options for October birthstone so don't miss out on this opportunity to purchase a beautiful and rare gem for a special birthday gift! ** PLEASE NOTE: We use professional grade UV lights to photograph all of our pieces, which are pure UV and more powerful than virtually any UV lights that can be purchased at retail stores. Lights purchased outside of scientific suppliers often have mixed wave bulbs with a much lower wattage, and not all minerals (including Opal) fluoresce under different UV waves. For example, these particular Hyalite Opals show strong green fluorescence under short wave UV but almost no fluorescence under long wave. Therefore, they do not fluoresce well under mixed wave lights. Item # BVOPAL261