Mexican Opal 2014-08
Mexican Opal
This month we feature a superb Mexican opal carved in flowing freeform by master lapidary Steve Walters.
This exquisite Mexican opal was brought and sold to Pala International personally by the opal's mine owner at the Las Vegas show two years ago. At the time, it was an epic piece of rough. After the purchase, Pala studied it and hoped that Steve Walters would agree to use his considerable talents to carve the lovely rough into a pendant. When Steve saw the piece he agreed, and in the next several months finished this marvelous piece.
Earth wind and fire. Fire opal from Mexico carved by master lapidary Steve Walters. It measures 29.5 x 20.5 x 12.4 mm and weighs 29.65 ct. Pala Inventory #20393. (Photo: Mia Dixon)
Aristotle once said that when what is black is mixed with the light of the sun and fire, the result is always red. This flame-colored opal exhibits orange, yellow and red in a cascading play of colors—a veritable mix of fire and sun.
Fine opal also might be said to embody Aristotle's forebears' notion of the four elements: earth (from whence it came), water (it is hydrated silica, after all), fire (a coveted variety), and air (it is a self-contained world, with its own atmosphere).
This is all of that. This is a true collector's item.
Interested?