Milky Opal to Crystal Opal - Rainbow Dream
Characteristic for Light Opals is their bright, often milky white to transparent body colour which reveals a sparkling play-of-colour, called opalescence. With each new exposure to light they glow in different colors and enchant the beholder.
Milky white Light Opals are also known as Milk Opals.
In addition to the Milk Opal, there are also translucent to transparent varieties of Light Opals, the latter known as Crystal Opal. Among the bright Crystal Opals you find the finest opal qualities of all. They are clear, transparent, and show all the colors of the rainbow with the most vivid brilliance and radiance. Crystal Opal can be very valuable. The name Crystal Opal is not related to the microstructure of opal, but rather to its clarity.
The variety Jelly Opal also belongs to the category of Light Opals. Typical for the Jelly Opal is a semi-transparent to translucent white or yellowish body colour, sometimes showing a soft play-of-colour.
Light Opal jewellery
Here you can see a small selection of jewellery with Light Opals.
You can find more examples in the opal jewellery section and in our online shop.
Mining and processing
Light Opals make up the majority of the precious opals mined worldwide. They can be found in large lots of rough material, and therefore can be cut in calibrated sizes for custom jewellery. Fine-quality Light Opals are each one-of-a-kind.
Light Opals come mainly from South Australia, found in mining areas around Coober Pedy, Minatabie, Lambina, Andamooka, and Alan's Rise, and from White Cliffs in New South Wales. However, there are also opal mines in Brazil around the area of Pedro Segundo in the state of Piaui.
The opal fields around Coober Pedy have been in service since 1915. In the language of the Aborigines, Cooper Pedy means "white man in the hole." In this part of Australia, opal has been and still is mined, sometimes dangerously, in underground shafts and tunnels. In the hunt for opal, tunnels and burrows are formed in 5 to 30 metres' depth. In the past, these tunnels were dug by hand, using a pick and shovel. Today, tunneling machines and blowers are used to shift the earth, but in case of a find the mining is still done by hand, so the valuable opal rough is not destroyed.
