Jewelry blog from Jewelrymall.com

Normally orange in color and traces its roots from Brazil and Mexico, fire opal jewelry is often a favorite among women. The fire opal is named such because of its mix of orange and red color, and sold for its clarity. Some even play around red, blue, green and orange. The two main categories of fire opals are common and precious stones. The common fire opal lacks color, while the precious opals display vibrant colors. Basically, a sample fire opal is considered a precious fire opal if it contains colors besides red and orange. Flame opals are similar to fire opals, because they contain streaks of flame. Another kind of fire opal is the Mexican fire opal, which are transparent orange and red.

Opals are the most colorful among all gemstones. Fire opal jewelry is sometimes mistaken for topaz or citrine. No other gemstone, except for synthetic ones can copy opals. The top country that produces synthetic fire opals is Japan. However, they contain particles of plastic so they are often easy to spot. Bandfire opals are less common types of fire opals that have wavy bands. Similarly, jewelry that contains flash opals has flashes of colors that appear and disappear as the jewelry is turned. High quality Mexican fire opal is hard to find, and highly desired as a gem.

One of the favorite ways of wearing opals is in an opal necklace or opal earrings. By wearing it away from ones hands, the fragile opal is much less likely to be damaged and will be able to be worn for years to come.

Studies have shown that 97% of the world’s opals can be found in Australia, South Australia to be exact. This is why there are a number of souvenir shops in the said country that offer different kinds of accessories, be it jewelry or accessories. Other sources of opals include Idaho in the United States, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.