The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opal?

[beaujolais]

Anyone know the cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opal? I looked all over and can't find it.

(Nor can I find a decent honeycomb opal approx 1.5 cts. Suggestions on this appreciated.)

 

[LD]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

Have you looked here http://www.opalauctions.com/ If you type in honey comb in two words you get a whole listing of them http://www.opalauctions.com/search.php?keywords=honey+comb&button=Search&submit=Search

Here's one not on that list http://www.opalauctions.com/auctions/ethiopian-opals/welogondar-opals/item-326652

As for what causes the colour and patterns, here's something from the web that I couldn't find the words to explain so thought this might help!

What causes the play of color and different patterns in opal?

In the mid 1960's a group of scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia) solved this mystery and put an end to all previous theories.

By using a newly developed electron microscope which magnified 30,000 times they found opal consisted of tiny spheres of silica ranging in size from 0.00005 mm to 0.00004 mm. By comparing common opal (colorless potch) to precious opal they discovered that precious opal was composed of very constant sized spheres in a tightly packed uniform pattern. In common potch the spheres are jumbled together in no particular pattern and are of different sizes.

Color is produced by light entering the opal and being broken up into colors by the spheres and spaces between them. It follows that the space between the spheres must he uniform since the spheres are uniform. This light phenomenon is called diffraction.

The size or the spheres determines the color one sees. Large spheres (0.00003 mm) (equals one millionth of an inch) produce reds. Blue and greens are produced by medium size spheres. Small spheres produce violet.

There is usually not one constant pattern over the whole stone. There are breaks in the size of the spheres or the orientation of the lines of spheres. These breaks in the alignment of the spheres account for the different patterns of opal.

Here's one I'd love to own!

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

Honeycomb Kid sez they is flavor crystals!

 

[beaujolais]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

Thanks LD. I cruise that site all the time. One of their smaller ones right now is a 2.30 ct., 12.70 x 9.23, which is still a bit larger than I want. Usually the smaller ones ones I've seen there are either lacking in color play or too concentrated in a specific color or two.

Great info, thanks so much. But, did I miss it - what makes, exactly, for a honeycomb pattern as opposed to the other patterns? Honeycomb seems quite bit different than most of the other patterns.

I adore the stone you posted !

Hard thing about opal shopping, also, is so many vendors do their pictures & videos on a black background & with a flashlight. The vendors I've asked for photos on a neutral background, so far, have not been that amenable to that. Sigh.

Thanks so very much.

 

[LD]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

I think it's just how the opal "grows". As far as I'm aware there is nothing specific that happens to them to cause this - it's just one of those things that occurs as the stone forms. I don't know much about Opals, only very basic information so I may be wrong. Hopefully others will chime in.

In terms of asking the vendors to photograph differently, I'm not sure how many opals you've got? In my experience, some only perform under certain lighting conditions (for example, in sunlight some just don't have a play of colour). It's quite difficult to show patterns and colours as well on certain backgrounds so this is probably why. The only ones I'd never buy is when you can clearly see that the vendor has shot the photos/video in almost darkness with a flashlight! There's one for sale on that website at the mo so you've probably seen it. That's one to avoid at all costs because unless you live down a mine, you're unlikely to see this opal perform!

Edit: I just went to look at my opal photos to see if I had any with different backgrounds and I've got a good example. This is the same stone. The black background was shot with the light shining down onto it - with the white background, the stone is in shade because of the lid of the ring box. Can you see on the white background the part of the opal that looks black in a line from 2 o'clock to 6 o'clock? That's actually the most interesting bit of the stone because it's a rolling flash! When you move the stone, the flash of colour starts at one end and literally rolls down to the other. This shows in a video but not in a still photo.

 

[beaujolais]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

Thanks again, LD. Your black opal is Gorgeous for sure. It sounds like a lively and fun stone. I've got a minimal amount of opals (about 4 but only one of them is "nice"). If they have to photograph on black, I wish they would also photograph on a neutral background, also.

Thanks so much !

 

[chrono]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

The honeycomb pattern is so sweet! Are the vendors open to hand shots, as those are very representative of what you'll see once it is set?

 

[beaujolais]

Re: The cause of the "honeycombs" in a honeycomb pattern opa

Thanks Chrono. So far, the ones I've inquired of haven't been (but I'm usually not dealing with big-money-stone vendors; I have to do lots of cruising to find nice moderately priced stones. I've got very, very few stones left on my "to acquire" list but a honeycomb opal has eluded me for a few years now.

Ideas for vendors to look at are welcome, if you all know of any.

How's the snow out by you, Ms. C? We had 3.3 feet here - crazy ! (I'm from Sonomacounty but now living on the east coast.) I'm off today due to the blizzard - yay !