Just following on from my previous post about bodytone. This picture shows two opals. See the difference between crystal opal and white opal. The white opal on the right has a cloudy appearance to the opal, where the crystal opal on the left is a little more crisp and clear. The bodytones are only one scale different. You could get away with calling the opal on the right a crystal opal and obviously the opal on the left is a true crystal opal.
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Identifying a Black Crystal Opal
Crystal Opals
Crystal opals are found in almost every area where gem colored opal is formed. Lightning Ridge has produced some of the best crystal opal I have ever seen, with Coober Pedy a close second. Australian opal mining fields are one of the most prevalent in gem Crystal opal. Top quality crystal opal from Lighting Ridge comes in the form of nobby opal, while the gem quality that comes from Coober Pedy is formed in Seam opal. It is unexplained why only Lighting Ridge is the only place that nobby opal occurs. Brazilian Opal is now becoming more popular with some very nice gem opal popping up in markets all around…
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