Black Opal
Jump to: See also:Black Opal History
Highly prized and covetously sought after by kings, emperors, maharajas and sultans, the majestic opal has been desired throughout the ages. Its intrinsic beauty intimates the ever-changing mystery of loveliness; the secret of which is so jealously guards and holds spellbound those who possess it. Yet, with all their pomp and wealth, many of this elite were denied the privilege of ever possessing the unique ‘Queen of Gems’: Lightning Ridge black opal.
Lightning Ridge, the home of the beautiful black opal, is nestled away among high ridges covered with scrub and pebbles . It is here that nature eons ago hid the earth’s rarest gem, black opal. The beauty of the green trees, blue sky and red pebbles is reminiscent of the ever-changing colours of the magnificent opal found deep below.
Lightning Ridge, however, was not the first place to report black opal. It had been found in Egypt in 1899, two years before Jack Murray sank the first hole at the Nobby in 1901, at Jundah, in Queensland in 1891, and later at White Cliffs. But Lightning Ridge opal was different, and it is this difference that has made it famous. Until that time, the world had never seen such incredible patterns in opal on such a beautiful black back. The supply of black opal from Lightning Ridge dramatically changed the way gem merchants evaluated opals, setting an unprecedented hallmark for the gem.
Black opal is the rarest and most valuable of all opals and is generally found as a bar of various colours in a dark body. In addition, there is also Semi black and black Crystal.
Lightning Ridge in New South Wales is the worldwide home for black opal and is widely regarded as producing the best black opal in the world.
BLACK OPAL MINING
Black opal is getting harder and harder to find. Not only have fuel prices and lease fees made it very costly to mine for opal, but the scarcity of black opal is now a reality. This trend has been emerging for years, and it is now rare to find quality red fire black opal.
The majority of opal being mined at Lightning Ridge is now seam opal, which is formed in bands similar to opals from Cooper Pedy . Black opals that have formed as nuggets are now rare to find. Even the colour base of black opals is different to years ago; the natural base is now more of a grey black colour rather than dark black as it used to be. Miners are finding much more semi-black opal.
Black opal colour guides can be used to grade the darkness of a black opal. N5 is the darkest, and Hi the lightest.
BLACK OPAL INVESTMENT
Black opals have always been the informed buyers top choice when selecting gemstones for investment. Black opals that have strong red fire and a dark black base are considered extremely rare and are an investment that will generally appreciate by at least 20% per year. Many black opals sold on Opal Auctions have increased in value between 20 and 30% per year, and some black opals valued at $1000 per carat have now increased to $3000 per carat.
Investors in black opal should always look for top opals that have a black base. Other factors include;
- cabochon shape (domed tops are ideal for Jewelry)
- Uniqueness of the pattern
- Colour. Red is most valuable but some orange and green fire ribbon patterns can also make for excellent investments
The Japanese market tend to prefer black opal cabochon and have helped moderate an ongoing value increase for this opal type.
AVAILABILITY
There are a few spectacular opal collections in Australia but none that include a large black opal collection because they are so rare.
This trend is repeated overseas, where large opal collections can be found in several countries including the US, Hong Kong and Germany but a large collection of black opal is very rare indeed.
MARKET TRENDS
With the ever increasing cost of opal mining mainly driven by oil prices and dwindling availability, the opal mining industry is coming under more and more pressure.
In Lightning Ridge all the “easy” mines have already been exhausted, and miners are facing very tough and dangerous mining conditions to extract opal in the more dangerous mines.
Low grade black opal is steady and available so the common laws of supply and demand are in force.
Opalholics - now is the time to buy investment opal because the supply of high grade black opal is thinning, and the mining community of Lightning Ridge as a whole is not finding much opal, which can only mean one thing for prices .
Black opal is found primarily in the opal fields of New South Wales. Read up on them in our opal mining section: Opal Fields of New South Wales
Buy Black Opal
Opal Auctions stocks the following black opal categories;
We also stock rough and fossilised black opal.
How to Polish Opal
Thanks to the priceless work of one of our members, we have a great guide in our opal forum about how to polish opal.
Last Update: November 14, 2007