Gem: Hyalite Opal
Weight: 2.9 ct.
Dimensions:
Clarity: VS
Faceted by: Scott Maier
Origin: Zacatecas, Mexico
Treatments: None
Comments:
This is a top quality hyalite gem. Hyalite opal is so so hard to find clean. The way it forms, there are very often internal voids left as the layers pile up into a thick piece. Even gem clean opal is likely to have at least a few spaces. But THIS piece is ALMOST entirely clean!
ESPECIALLY for the size, this gem is astonishingly clean.
It has a fantastic glow under UV light. It's a rich green that fills the gem.
If you look closely, you will find concentration of the green color varies by layer of the gem. It seems that some layers are a little more rich in trace amounts of uranium than others, and you can see them glowing by layer. Its a very cool gem to sit and really stare into. **NOTE - The trace amounts of uranium are safe in the kinds of minute amounts that are found in this gem, just like kitchen countertops, and uranium glasswre.**
If you look very carefully in the photos, you can see the layers in daylight as well, presenting as wiggly lines that look a little like when you can see heat over a hot road in the distance. It's also similar to the 'whiskey in water' effect that tunduru spessartine garnets have.
In daylight AND under UV light, the gem's performance is great. The photos showing the green glow don't show the definitions of the brilliance like it presents in-person. You can see the facets interacting much like the daylight photos show.
Faceted carefully by me, to remove 99% of the inclusions.
This is one of the largest, cleanest, and most carefully meet-point accurate hyalite opals Ive seen! For the collector or jewelry afficionado who has to have the best one, this is a pretty good one to choose!