Fire Opal

There are many types of Opal. All are good for emotional healing and helping one to look within. The Fire Opal is often listed as a Mexican Fire Opal and contains a brilliant fiery array of red, yellows, greens and oranges within a brownish stone. It consists of many layers within the stone and when polished, the entire fire can be lost by just a touch too much polishing. It is mostly a fragile stone because of the thin layers which is what prompted the lore about it being 'bad luck' to wear the opal if it wasn't your birthstone. It generally needs moisture to keep it from drying out and works very well with the oils from wearing close to the body…very similar to pearls being enhanced by wearing on the skin. Most of the fiery specimens used in jewelry today are called doublets or triplets which means they are layered between or under another stone, usually quartz for over the top and sometimes onyx beneath it, especially if they want a black background to bring out a certain color within the opal. This makes them more stable as a triplet and less likely to crack if dried out. Some opals do have the color without as much instability and the Mexican Fire Opal one of them.

RD Glossary by Run Digital