No marks to ID artist, and I dont belive it is NA because of the prong setting. NA don’t set stone pendants that way, right? Sheepishly I admit this was from the same “paper mache lady tag sale”. But this one I believe to be opal, it has red and green flashes in the sun. I wish the reds had come out in pictures, they are beautiful. But I have never seen opal in brown stones. Boulder opal I thought was black. This appears to be pieces cut and pieced together. That is not silver inlay. Appears to be a black “stabalizer” on back and maybe between pieces… You can see the green lower right. On the left that bluish color is a red and green next to each other. Opal is so hard to capture on film.
6 Likes
yes - entirely possible mexican opal! you may also have some bits of fire agate in there - hard to tell when the bits are small offcuts like this. might also be opalized petrified wood, which i believe is technically agate? i’m not as up on my rockhound mineral chemistry as i used to. but mexican opal def can originate from this reddish brown matrix, as can boulder opal from “ironstone” matrix. the black backer is probably resin or epoxy, similar to what the pueblos use to support shell inlay. this does have a taxco/oaxaca vibe. very cool piece!
5 Likes
Thank you for that wealth of information. . I almost passed this by, but as I was walking past, the red and green flashes caught my attention.The reddish brown stones make it a perfect necklace for Autumn. This is the first piece I have seen like this. I have worn it several times already since Sunday.
4 Likes
We went to a Rock and Gem show today here in CT. I tried to find an example of Mexican Opal, raw or cut. Your information really got me interested in learning more. The dealers here referred to it as “Mexican Opal”, or “Fire Opal”. No one had any.
In past years we have had some turquoise in dealers booths, but not this year. So maybe the dealers this year were not carrying those stones. Is Mexican opal harder to find, mine, etc?
The other possibility, opalized petrified wood, was also a new term to me. They have had samples of petrified wood on display at the show before, but not this year. I will continue to research these materials. Petried wood has always been fascinating as it seems it can appear in many different ways.
Both of these terms are interesting to learn about.
2 Likes
Mexican Fire Opal | Mayer and Watt.
It’s not a stone you see very commonly in commercial jewelry stores, especially outside the southwest it seems.
i have a small parcel of loose faceted emerald and pear cut fire opals that are several shades of navel orange, that i bought at a gem show in Albuquerque about 25 years ago. i originally bought them to have made into a pendant and earrings to wear with a ring i own. however, the ring, which i did not have on me when i bought the loose parcel (big mistake) is a much deeper tangerine color emerald cut, so i never set any of the loose ones. I’ll try and post a pic later.
5 Likes
Thanks for sharing this, amazing stuff. I’ve never heard of opalized wood, but I love it!
Now I want some 
7 Likes
Your rings are beautiful, but I believe you are fortunate to have found a fire agate, and not an opal. Both are wonderful stones with a variety of colors
2 Likes
