Australian Black Opal. These opals are bought in the rough directly from Australian Miners and Dealers. Crystal, SemiBlack, Black Opals come in various shades and brightness. Pictures are mostly taken wet under artificial or sunlight. The opals often show more color and beauty in hand. Shipped with USPS First Class.

“Black opals, such as those from Lightning Ridge, are generally considered the most valuable because the rest of the vibrant spectrum colors and their patterns show better with the black background.”

“Lightning Ridge, a small outback town in New South Wales, is the only place in Australia, and one of the few places in the world, where the highly prized black opal is found. Opals with a vivid play-of-color and a black or dark body color are classified as black opals.”

“Natural - Light Opals

Light Opals are those that exhibit colourless to medium grey in terms of base/body tone with many people classifying them as white (this should only be used if the specimen is in fact 'milky'). The Light Opal, which makes up the bulk of the precious opal are sourced primarily from Coober Pedy and Mintabie in the north of South Australia and to a less extent in White Cliffs (Outback NSW) where they were first discovered.

Natural - Black/Dark Opals

The most valued of all opals is the Black Opal, of which Lightning Ridge is ’home’ and their inherent value comes from their rarity. Black Opal is distinguished from other opals by their dark background (Body Tone) and this characteristic enables the brightness of colour of which they are known. The ‘darkness’ is the result of the opal is formed on a darker (black) quartz-like layer that enables greater refraction/reflection of the light to the top of the opal, especially the reds and pinks. It is the 'reds' that are more valuable.

To expand the 'play of color' of Black Opal even further, some specimens have a light crystal colour bar on dark opal potch (colourless opal) which gives the otherwise light opal a dark appearance. Even expensive black/dark opals may have only a very thin colour bar on black potch (Colourless Opal).

Black Opal is found as what is referred to as 'Nobbies', which are fossil replacements of corals or sponges. As the opal is formed, silica replaces the organic material and carbonaceous material or impurities like titanium impregnates the mineral structure giving the Black Opal its body colour.

Compared to Light and Boulder opals, Black Opals fetch a higher price for a given colour, clarity and pattern, due to their scarcity.

Natural - Boulder Opals

Formed in areas of Ironstone, Boulder Opals are created when the host rock (Ironstone) forms with/as part of the opal when the gem is formed in cracks/voids within the host rock. The resulting opal is often a thin vein laid on (natural) the Ironstone.

Boulder Opal, with colours ranging from black or light, is sourced from areas in Western Queensland, which are cut to incorporate the brown host Ironstone and are valuable due to their high demand. Around Andamooka in South Australia, where the host-rock is quartz which is lighter in colour, the Boulder Opal is also referred to as a ‘Painted Ladies’.”