![]() ![]() ![]() According to GIA, the comment "This is man-made opal and has been produced in laboratory" only applies for synthetic opal. However, some amateurs advertised Opal-like Plastic (OLP) as lab-created opal. Marketers may use lab-grown opal or lab-created opal for their advertisement for synthetic opal products. "Lab-created" can only be using as description for synthetic opal. The formation of OLP is by mixture of plastic with silica, thus, it is impossible for the impregnation process to take place Opal-like Plastic (OLP) is mistakenly advertised as impregnated opal by some amateurs. ![]() "Polymer impregnated" is used to describe a synthetic opal which go through the resin impregnation process and this process could only take place if solid stone is ready in advance. Source from: ĥ)Misuse of the term "Polymer impregnated" and "Lab-created". Play-of-color bands have a vertical, columnar shape that corresponds to digit pattern development. Their fire pattern is non-directional and without vertical fire.Ĥ)Opals found in thin fractures in basalt from Honduras commonly show pronounced banding that marks the horizontal level. Opal-like Plastic (OLP) is not lab-grown opal as they are basically a heat-hardened of resin with mixture of silica. This professionalism endows the opal the precious value while this vertical fire is the key feature to distinguish lab-grown opal from the others.įURONG Opal and Galaxy Opal with the unique vertical fire are good examples of lab-growth synthetic opal. Columnar structure which looks like vertical fire, is also representing the growth pattern of lab-grown opal, resembling natural opal's precious play of colors. It is not only a process which takes time but a combination of technology and craftsmanship in creating unique columnar structure for synthetic opal. Galaxy Opal which only contains silica &small portion of water is the best example of created opal as they are resin free.Ĥ)Why is lab-grown opal unique? Only synthetic opal goes through lab-grown process could be named as lab-grown opal. Resin free created opal is suitable for setting in wax or glassblowing. Although created opal and synthetic opal have been used interchangeably by marketer, it is important for jewelers to understand that created opal is specially referring to resin free opal as this may affect their handling conditions. Photo4: Synthetic opals - FU RONG Opal & Galaxy Opalģ)What is "Created Opal"? "Created opal" is sometimes used by marketers to describe synthetic opal which is chemically identical to natural opal. To clearly distinguish the difference between two products, GIA named Opal, the one with 20% resin, as "Polymer Impregnated Synthetic Opal" and Galaxy Opal as "Synthetic opal". (c) have gemological properties with refractive index (RI) between 1.37 and 1.47įU RONG's Opal & Galaxy Opal, composing of orderly arrays of silica, are both certified by GIA as synthetic opal while the latter one is chemically identical to natural opal. High-quality ones can be tens of times as expensive as low-quality gemstones.Ģ) What makes a man-made opal qualified as "Synthetic Opal"? According to GIA, synthetic opal must: (a) be silica in composition (major elements), possibly containing some water (b) be composed of submicroscopic spheres Reminder: Keep in mind that not all man-made opals are of the same quality. It does not show any play of color and is simulating common opal. Glass Opalite is a commonly known imitation opal. To clarify again, OLP is a plastic material with some color change effect. Some people mistakenly call OLP as synthetic opal. Due to their formation feature, it is also named as "Resin Colloidal Imitation Opal". It is also a heat-hardened of resin with mixture of silica in short period of time. It is a man-made opal which contains 80% resin and 20% silica. Opal-like Plastic (OLP) is certified by GIA as imitation opal. They could be either plastic, glass or any other materials…etc. It could be made of a material that resembles the appearance of opal but has different chemical and physical properties. There're 2 colors charts for sell, one is with 78 colors, another is with 92 colorsġ0 things about the Synthetic and Created OPAL stonesġ) What is Synthetic Opal? And what is imitation opal? Imitation opal is what people usually consider fake opal. Synthetic Opal Gemstones Color chart for sell: US$60 It is available in 13 opal colours, such as water opal, milky opal, black opal, blue opal, pink opal and fire opal.ĭue to the transparency of some colors, such as OP701, 702, 712 etc, the colors are slightly different in various shapes and sizes. You may also call it “Galaxy Opal or Created Opal”. It is the only glass compatible opal among three collections. Galaxy Collection (Mineral Type Created Opal) is composed by silica & very small portion of water. Prev 1 of 1 Next CREATED OPAL COLOR CHART ![]()
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