Customer Service
(970) 532-2546
Search
Shop by Category
Be alerted of all our sales!
More Info
Customer Login
Shopping Cart
Our Security
|
Home > Mexican Fire Opal Gemstone Information
| | |
|
Mexican Fire Opal:
It is in
Mexico that the most significant fire opal deposits in the world lie. Rock strata containing opals run through the Mexican highlands. Sometimes, these orange-red gemstones are also found in other countries, in
Honduras or
Guatemala, in the
USA,
Canada,
Australia,
Ethiopia and
Turkey, but these are mostly sites of little or no economic significance.
Fire Opal was born in fire, in the ancient volcanoes of
Mexico. Fire opal forms when water seeps into silica-rich lava, filling seams and hollows. Under heat and pressure, the silica forms a solid gel, trapping the remaining water within its structure. Small pebbles of fire opal are found embedded in lava flows.
Play of color, body color and transparency are the three criteria which determine the price of a fire opal. The more transparency and 'fire' it has, and the more intense the deep red of its body color, the more valuable it will be. The rarest, and thus the most highly esteemed, is the intense red-orange fire opal from
Mexico with its strong play of color. A higher value is placed on fine cabochons with the much loved typical play of color of the opals than on good, faceted fire opals.
Mexican Fire Opal is a harder stone and ranges from 6-6.5 on the Moh’s scale.
- Birthstone for October
- Lucky stone for Aries
- Anniversary gemstone for 14th wedding anniversaries
Myths and Therapeutic Properties:
Mexican Fire Opals, which glow from orange to red, are treasures which appeal most of all to active people with a positive approach to life. Their warm, fiery color gives us vigor, fills us with the joys of life and opens our senses to the beauty of Nature. The Mexican Fire Opal is a good means of helping to make feelings flow and resolve blockages. Connoisseurs say that fire opals bestow courage, stamina, will-power and energy on the wearer. The Mayas and Aztecs loved this gemstone and liked to use it in mosaics and for ritualistic purposes, they called it quetzalitzlipyollitli, meaning the 'stone of the bird of paradise'.
| |
| | |
|
|