The Beauty of Opal Jewelry

  Opal jewelry is one of the top 5 most popular gems in the world. They fall in at number 5 behind diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and the elegant rubies. While opal is loved and definitely beautiful there are many individuals who have no clue on how to find or purchase quality jewelry. When purchasing a diamond you know to look for color, clarity, carat, and cut. When purchasing emeralds or rubies you know they have natural inclusions so you seek those that have great color saturation. If purchasing gold you seek 18k, 14k, or 10k. But how do you know what to look for when it comes to jewelry? The quality of this jewelry is often known as opalescence or iridescence which is applied to this gem. The extent of it and the colors that are seen helps to determine whether or not the jewelry is considered high quality or not. The opal is not like other gemstones and with the fiery opalescence occurring by natural flaws it may be difficult to figure out what is top quality. There are 4 typ...