How to identify opal

In the dazzling world of jewelry, opal is loved by many collectors for its colorful “flame”-like color changes. However, with the increasing advancement of synthetic technology, synthetic opals that are indistinguishable from the real thing have entered the market, and many consumers have been deceived. Don’t worry! Master the following identification skills and easily develop a “sharp eye” to identify the authenticity of opals and protect your jewelry investment.

Visual identification through color change effect

The color change of natural opal is natural and irregular. When you turn the gem, each color spot jumps like a smart elf, and you can capture the dreamy gradient of rainbow from different angles. For example, the black opal produced in Lightning Ridge, Australia, which has red, orange, blue and other colors freely blurred on the deep black background.It is full of vitality, as if the splendor of the vast universe is condensed in a small space.

Figure 1 Natural Opal

The play of color of synthetic opal shows a distinct “honeycomb” or “lizard skin” structure. The color transition is abrupt and lacks the agility of natural opal, just like a picture mechanically stacked with pixels, which looks gorgeous from a distance but dull and lifeless when viewed up close.

Figure 2  Synthetic Opal

Use professional identification instruments

With the update of counterfeiting methods, the color change effect of some synthetic opals is enough to be mistaken for the natural opals. When observing the internal structure through a microscope, natural opals will show unique color spots and inclusions, while the internal structure of synthetic opals will reveal traces of artificial manufacturing, and dyed opals will also show artificial pigment residues. The following are the identification characteristics of various opals.

1. Natural opal has vivid colors and natural mineral inclusions can be seen.

Figure 3  Natural opal

Figure 4  Natural opal

Figure 5  Natural opal

2. Synthetic opal, the overall structure is like “lizard skin”. The boundaries of the color change spots are clear, and there are spots of other colors inside the main color spots.

Figure 6   Synthetic Opal

Figure 7   Synthetic Opal

Figure 8   Synthetic Opal

3. Dyed opal can be observed with the color distributed along the cracks under a microscope.

Figure 9   Dyed Opal

Figure 10   Dyed Opal

Figure 11   Dyed Opal