Mexican Opals, formed in white to soft-tone brown potch, are known for their beautiful orange crystals. They make good cabochon opals.
Canterra Matrix Mexican Opals are fiery opals that the Mayans and Aztecs used in mosaics and rituals. They called \"quetzalitzlipyollitli,\" or the bird of paradise. After these ancient civilizations, it wasn\'t until 1835 that Mexicans rediscovered these opals.
Mexican opals are found in rock strata running through mountain areas where there are many extinct volcanoes and opal veins are found in cracks or joints and cavities.
Leopard opal is known as the lost opals of the Aztecs and this opal has dancing colours of red, blue, Green sparkling fire and has been recorded that opal mines operated in pre Columbian times.
Leopard Opal consists of vesicular basalt impregnated with play of these colours.
This opal was formed as abundant silica and chemically broken down by layers of volcanic ash.
Contra Luz opals have brilliant play of colour when light shines through the opal as it is transparent, for this reason Contra Luz opals are ideal opal to facet and name means Against The Light
