The Opal:
Opal, the birthstone for Libra and a semiprecious gem long valued for its play of colours and milky-to-pearly opalescence, is usually rounded and polished to display these properties best. White and black opals gain their colour from iridescence on, respectively, milky opalescent stones and dark green, black or grey stones. Fire opals gain theirs from reddish orange flashes on a clear stone.
The water, or hyaline, opal is an iridescent clear stone. Opals are porous; they lose their colour and may crack if they dry out, or they may absorb body oils or other liquids. The finest opals - black opals - come from Australia. Opals have long mesmerized ancients who find the colours and delicate qualities of this gemstone as the materialization of organized chaos.
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