The stone in the picture is called a Hydrophane Opal. It quite literally soaks up water like a sponge, and does some very unique things with the water. Just sitting around in the open air it is pretty, but when you start letting it do its thing .. soaking up water .. things really start to happen. This particular variety of Opal is from Ethiopia and is sometimes known as 'Welo Opal' and also by other names. This stone offers a beautiful play of color that is made more intense after it has been submerged in water. The water does dry out after a time and that allows the opal to revert to its original state, thus making this opal almost a chameleon for colors..
Ethiopian Opal is quite unique and different from the more common Australian and Mexican opal. Not many people are familiar with or as are yet familiar with this variety of Opal. However the Ethiopian Opal is, in a sense, an old gemstone. In 1939, an anthropologist found evidence of the use of the Opal by early man in a cave in Kenya. So there must have been an Opal deposit somewhere on the Africa Continent. Finally in the mid 1990s, the Opal was re-discovered in Africa by a mineral engineer named Telahun Yohannes in the Yita Ridge, Shewa Province, Ethiopia. and he started mining it.
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One of the most interesting features of the hydrophane Opal is directly due to this ability to absorb liquids and dry out.
The stones have been successfully dyed using this ability, but more important is what is believed to be natural oxides in the stone that are due to the absorption feature of the stone. Perhaps the most interesting part of these Opals is the huge variety of colors and intensities of colors based on the variable of lighting. Standing in one place they will look one way, turn around in the room and they change into something entirely different. Very strange and wonderful stones that are sure to become a major player in the Opal market.
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One of the most interesting features of the hydrophane Opal is directly due to this ability to absorb liquids and dry out.
The stones have been successfully dyed using this ability, but more important is what is believed to be natural oxides in the stone that are due to the absorption feature of the stone. Perhaps the most interesting part of these Opals is the huge variety of colors and intensities of colors based on the variable of lighting. Standing in one place they will look one way, turn around in the room and they change into something entirely different. Very strange and wonderful stones that are sure to become a major player in the Opal market..
Be cautious of someone selling Ethiopian Opal jewelry and it is advertised as an antique or vintage piece. There is no such thing. As of 2011, this opal had been on the market for only about 15 years. In December 2008, another Opal deposit was found in Gondar, Welo Province, Ethiopia. As of October 2010, most Ethopian Opal roughs come from Welo. The mining in Shewa seems declining.
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Many thanks are due Robert James at the ISG and ISG member Alicia, for their information about this specific Opal.
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