On the subject of Mexican opals…
Is there a hardness/durability difference between the transparent
ones and the red ones? I really don’t know anything about them, but I
picked up three tiny (approx 4mm?) ones for a couple bucks from a
recent gem show just cause I liked them. Two are clear with really
nice fire in all directions and one’s red and doesn’t really have
much of any fire. Should I be handling the colorless ones with more
care? Am I supposed to be keeping all of these in water? Or are they
all equally chancy and I might as well leave them stored dry in the
little plastic case to see whether any of them are stable enough to
use for jewelry?
I guess I should add that I’m in Hawaii, so the atmosphere isn’t as
dry as other places.
– M. Osedo http://www.studiocute.com