Fire opal: what properties does it have and where is it used?

There are a lot of varieties of opal, one of its representatives is a fiery mineraloid (Mexican opal, a hummingbird stone) - a precious mineral that stands out with inconceivable external splendor and fiery luminescence. It is often called the sun stone. Noble mineral education is especially appreciated by experts in the field of jewelry making and repair, jewelry connoisseurs, collectors. He who has seen such beauty with his own eyes at least once in his life will never forget how great he is.

Opals are a set of semi-precious and precious stones, divided into a number of groups. Mexican fiery opal, which will be discussed later, is in a special position among its many “relatives”.

Formally related to the category of precious minerals, he, as it may seem, does not correspond to those characteristics that are typical for noble opals, and is more like ordinary opals. The main thing is that this view is not endowed with a natural color play. Only sometimes, somewhere very deep inside this stone, you can catch a peculiar bright short bursts of color.

Nevertheless, the amazing texture of the mineral, apparently, forced experts to forget about the physical-optical standards. Many believe that this stone deservedly occupies a special place in the society of noble stones of this category for its beauty and fantastically bright colors, which are closer in most cases to the red region of the spectrum.

The weak point of this stone is that catchy intense color over time is able to fade. Moreover, fiery mineraloids, like all other types of this precious mineral, are fragile, and therefore it is necessary to handle them carefully. It can also crack due to loss of moisture - stones contain water, the volume of fluid in the mineral is about 3%However, sometimes this percentage reaches 25-30, therefore it takes occasionally for some time to lower them into the water.

Mineraloid fire opal is ranked as rare, but comes across quite often. It is equated to rare ones for the reason that only an insignificant part of the discovered opals is applicable in the jewelry art. Industrial fire mineral, which has a low cost and is not used by experts in the field of jewelry making, is found in fact in all corners of the earth: in the United States of America, Ukraine (in the Carpathians), the Russian Federation (in Transbaikalia), the Slovak Republic, Mexico, Germany , Indonesia, Honduras, Czech Republic, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Australia.

High quality stones were found only in Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan, the United States of America and the Republic of Honduras. Samples of this type are used to create jewelry.

Of the frozen amorphous siliceous anhydride, most of the precious stones are formed, and fire opal is one of them. As mentioned above, the stone has a rather high water content - from 10 to 30%. Gradually, under the influence of natural processes, the liquid from the rock partly evaporates, leaving only a small percentage and additional impurities - iron, aluminum, magnesium and manganese.

Mineraloid stands out curious design structure.It contains a lot of identical in size transparent balls (globules), which are ordered in a strictly geometric order. The key property of the stone is opalescence (scattering), which is distinguished by the fiery glow of the surface of the gemstone blinding eyes.

The hardness of the Mohs scale varies from 6 to 6.5 units, the density - 2 units, the refraction - 1.45. Externally, the mineraloid may be completely transparent or semi-permeable. The stone is distinguished by its brilliance similar to that of glass, is rather fragile. When contacting with alkaline compounds, acids, as well as temperature drops rapidly deteriorates.

For a long time, the mineral has been practiced as a therapeutic product. He was considered the best way to cure diseases associated with the activity of the cardiovascular system. A characteristic feature of the mineral is the ability to absorb human pathologies and diseases. Modern advocates of alternative medical treatment with stones - lithotherapists - advise the use of the mineral for healing:

• nervous system;
• insomnia (insomnia);
• depression;
• eye diseases;
• diseases associated with the activity of the kidneys and intestinal tract;
• intraocular pressure (IOP).

This stone is very ambivalent and to some extent dangerous, and therefore one should be very careful with it, show all respect for it. A stone, having acquired its owner, begins to work for him, but sometimes so dynamically that one can even speak of an excess of such devotion.

It is known that The mineral can help to manifest itself to the person and his hidden talents, moreover, he does it regardless of the worldview, life and spiritual values ​​of its owner. More precisely, one can never be sure what the mineral will promote: the unlawful pleasures and immoral actions of a person or his endurance and the non-recognition of base instincts. If the owner of the mineral is a weak-willed person, then he is very much at risk of becoming a toy in the hands of an unknown fate.

It is necessary to designate another interesting property of the stone. Attitudes to it differ on the basis of its geography. So, Europeans believe that the stone personifies love, well-being and faith. Meanwhile, the population of the Asiatic continent sees a stone of vain hopes in it, because of which most people waste all their physical energy and spiritual strength on ghostly and impracticable fantasies.

Again, in Europe and in Asian countries, this mineral was rarely used in performing magical rites. Well, except that the sorcerers in India to change the color of the color of the stone are able to prophesy the approaching potential danger. As a rule, such minerals are regarded as gems, which protect their own host from dangerous elements or grant him clairvoyance. But it is not excluded that the owner of the mineral may find “gifts” of a slightly different kind: a feeling of anxiety without apparent reason, fear of darkness.

Based on the combination of shades and colors, several types of minerals can be distinguished:

• Mexican;
• white;
• blue;
• honeysuckle.

Fire opals mined in Mexico are considered the most sought after. They stand out clean and rich orange colors with an intense red tone, which is poured into different shades. Because of this, Mexican minerals are considered the most expensive.Fire opal can have a yellow and brown hue, but the value of these stones is much less.

Rare varieties of fire opal:

• contra Luz - characterized by a uniform play of colors over the entire area of ​​the mineral;
• pinfire or flashing - possesses modulations of several colors simultaneously;
• fire opal - has the highest purity and inimitable color: red or bright orange;
• girazole (girazole or "sun stone") - transparent, almost no color opal, with a wavy bluish tint.

Inexpensive and inconspicuous samples are used as materials for creating dishes, signet rings, and figurines.

Stone is used extensively in the chemical industry, for example, for the manufacture of dynamite. Rocks of tripoli, chalk limestone and diatomaceous earth in their structure are opal raw materials for fillers, cement and other building materials, for example, raw materials for ceramics and light bricks. Due to its characteristics It is practiced in the construction of facilities in conditions of high humidity, in particular, supports of bridges. Also demanded finishing offices through opal tiles.

Precious samples as a result of thorough processing turn into jewelry. In order to better express the play of colors of fire stones, they are given oblong-round or spherical cabochons, or other smoothly convex outlines based on how much raw material allows it.

When creating products of mass production, doublet opals are often used - polished stone plates glued to black glass, obsidian, onyx or ordinary opal. Due to the low strength of opal, jewelers, when making jewelry, make the frames that protect them.

Fire opal is a mineral with a rather violent and indomitable energy, so it is not suitable for everyone. It is much easier, of course, to achieve harmony with it when the owner is related to one of the signs of the element of Fire. For example, Aries, due to the influence of the stone, will become more active, more successful and at the same time more balanced. He will be easier to implement the most reckless personal plans.

Sagittarius miraculous qualities of the mineral will provide an opportunity to protect themselves from unexpected turns in life, not always pleasant, and black magic. It will be easier for the lions to expand their circle of interests, find out more about their own persona and the surrounding society

Regarding the remaining six representatives of the zodiacal circle, one can say the following: they have the opportunity to receive the favor of the stone. It will probably be harder to establish harmony with it than the signs of the element of Fire, but the miraculous and healing characteristics of opal are worth it.

For information on how red opal is mined, see the next video.