You can hold “fire” in the palm of your hand and not be burned. If you hold a Lake County, Fire Opal, that is. Fire opal is a hottest opal in the gem market. It isn’t your grandmother’s gemstone.
Lake County Fire Opal™ comes from mines in Oregon, very close to the California state line. The Sunstone Butte Mine is owned by a coupe named Dave and Tammy, who use mostly hand tools to mine for the Fire Opal. They have trained their eyes to take advantage of what is termed ‘float.'” There is so much opal in the ground, that erosion exposes the underlying opal and it “floats” to the surface. The slope is covered with opal rough.
Fire opals display an even, saturated burnt-orange color. The color of fire opal is due to fine traces of iron oxide. This variety does not usually contain the flashes of light and color typical of other opal. Typically, transparent opal rough is faceted/ The opaque opal is cut cabochon style. The 4 x 6 fire opal gems featured in our photograph were cut in Germany in an elongated oval shape using modified brilliant facets.
Lake County Fire Opal hasn’t been enhanced or treated. The striking orange/yellow color of the gem is as nature created it. This opal is 5-6.5 on the MOHS hardness scale. Like all opal, fire opal is soft and breaks easily. Best suited for earrings and pendants, fire opal creates an eye catching ring none the less.
The Aztec culture held that a stone with this fire and beauty had to have originated in the seas of Paradise. You too could hold “fire’ in the palm of your hand. Stop in our showroom and see for yourself. Your jewelry adventure awaits at Sturm Brothers’.
