1.08 ct. Mexican Fluorescent Opal Matched Pair
- Color: Medium Light Green-Yellow
- Clarity: Eye Clean
- Origin: Jalisco, Mexico
- Cut: Oval Brilliant
- Treatments: None
- Measurements: 7 x 5 mm
A newer and rather remarkable material. There are plenty of minerals that are fluorescent, that is to say they respond to UV light, either long or short wave. Furthermore, plenty of faceted stones have this response as well - diamonds are often quite fluorescent. But precious few, and esssentially none beyond the rarified collector category, are actually daylight fluorescent. That is what you have here, this opal will glow with an intense yellow-green fluorescence in regular old daylight - no special light needed!
Just profiled in the Journal of Gemmology, this material is from a find of hyalite Opal in Jalisco, Mexico. We thought it would be quite something to put together a matched pair of accent sized stones and they turned out amazing. The gems are completely clean and show a vivid reaction to daylight. Under completely incandescent lighting, the stone is a light stray yellow shade (photos 1 and 3). Indirect natural light even produces a moderate fluorescence response, but direct sunlight sets the stone aglow and gives you a stone with an almost 'highlighter' yellow color (see photo 4). For something remarkable, use an UV light and see the response - photo 2. A rare material that will no doubt become the preeminent example of daylight fluorescence in gems.