Update 2012 the Tucson gem show there is a large amount of Ethiopian rough which is heavily fractured but the polished stones seem stable. This is mainly due to the cutters stressing the rough before cutting. As the material is hydrophane [it absorbs water] it is soaked in water and then dried out under bright lights up to four times. This causes any weak areas to fracture. The remaining material is considered stable and a stone is cut from this.
In the early 1990s a new type of rough opal surfaced in Mezezo Ethiopia Africa which was called Chocolate opal because of the chocolate colour inside the nodule. These rough opals are found in a round nodular form with in a 3 meter thick layer of welded volcanic ash. Only about 1% of these nodules contain colour. The colours are very striking with red being common and blue quite rare which is the opposite to Australian opals. It has some magnificent patterns and brilliant colours and is called Ethiopian rough fire opal.
Then a new discovered Ethiopian rough Parcel opal was found in Gondar which was at first called desert opal but it is from a plateau in the highlands. The main field which is creating a lot of excitement now is from a field called Welo .
We recommend Ethiopian crystal rough opal from welo /Gondar for new opal cutters due to thickness of crystal opal that is rare in other opal fields.
Australian black opal or Boulder opal can have thin colour bars and cutters needs experience to cut these opals or color can be easily rubbed off these rare opals.
Many new cutters polish to hard and loose opal colour .Make sure cutting or polishing wheels are not too sharp or even practise just on potch or lest brightest Ethiopian opal first. Many new cutters buy parcel rough and straight away try and polish brightest opal and rub away all the colour, so always leave best rough pieces last till you familiarize yourself with the opal rough parcel.
This is found in a plateau 2500 to 3299 meters. Only the locals are allowed to mine rough opal this field and the government has even supplied basic tools. They work the horizontal level of these steep mountains and unfortunately there have been fatalities due to the rock top collapsing. This field produces a variety of crystals, brown base and even black material. A very small percentage is called gum opal as if you wet your hand the opal sticks to it like gum!
Rough opals from this field are known as Ethiopian rough opal from wello.
A large majority of this material is hydrophane as if it is soaked in water the base colour can become clear increasing the play of colour or it can sometimes vanish. When dry this material is very bright. If it gets wet it may take a few weeks to dry out but don’t hurry the process. This is why some cutters cut it dry to prevent this. Some of the black stones would rate a N1 on the body tone chart and are quite spectacular.
Good Ethiopian rough opals have diverse play of colours from Neon reds, oranges, green, blue, white, yellow, brown and contra luz fire.The are even colours that are not present in Australian opals like turquoise and indigos. Ethiopian fire opals are popular as they have striking pattern formations which make each opal so unique
Ethiopian Opals, from North Africa, have only begun to be mined recently. However, anthropologists report that around 4,000 years BC, early man used opals to make tools, which means that Africa mined opals before Australia.
Most Rough Ethiopian Opals are Nobby-formed and have characteristically brown potch with bright red to green flashes of colour. These opals are not considered as stable as Australian opals because they may craze and have inclusions, but they are valued for their bright colours. Gondar is a new field only worked in the last few years and is more of a crystal formation than brown or dark-nodule Ethiopian Opals.
Ethiopian Rough opal suppliers on OpalAuctions include DeinOpal, Gemmagic, Opalopia, Opalfireinfo, Opalethiopia, TopShelfOpals, VocanicOpals, and XtremeOpals.
