A Brief Porosity of Ethiopian Opal, The precious opal mined in Ethiopia entered the gem and jewelry market in 1994. This opal originated from a discovery made in the Menz district Gishe in the northern part of Shewa State. Opals from this area are available in a wide range of body colors. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Ethiopian Opal Treatments: Many Ethiopian opals are sold in their natural country, but moved to other areas. Their porosity makes them good candidates for coloring, smoking and sugar/acid treatments. All these treatments reduce the price of opal to much less than natural opal with the same appearance. If unknown, they can confuse inexperienced buyers with more experienced buyers. A Brief History of Ethiopian Opal:. This opal originated from a discovery made in the Menz Gishe district in the northern part of Shewa province. The most important opal discovery in Ethiopia was made in 2008 near the town of Wegel Tena in Wollo province in the northern part of the country. A third deposit was found in 2013, again in the Wollo province, but about 100 kilometers north of the Wegel Tena area. The new opal heavyweight: Australia has been the possessive force in the opal market for over 100 years. During that time up to 95% of the world's opal production was mined in Australia. Ethiopia is on track to become the second heavyweight in the opal market. People now go to the store looking for "Welo opals" or "Ethiopian opals". They also use the Internet and search for these opals by name. This popularity is driven by the beauty of opals and the fact that it currently sells for less than Australian opal of a similar appearance. Opals cost Play of Color: Areas within an opal that produce a play of color are made up of microscopic areas of silica arranged in an orderly network. This network of spheres acts like a limited lattice. When light passes through it it is diffracted into the colors of the spectrum. The size of the spheres and their geometric packing determine the color and quality of the diffracted light. Opal color games. Opals contain 6% to 10% water. Plays of color, the way they change within particular stones as they are rotated. The play of colors makes these opals much more attractive and have a greater chance of being purchased. Opals with play of color are usually the most desired gems. DIY treatment: Hydrophane opals, those found in Ethiopia, are easy to dye because their porosity naturally absorbs liquids. However, the practice of slightly enhancing an opal's body color with dye can be much less obvious. In these cases, color treatments can often be detected with microscopic examination or by cutting into the opal to see if the color is concentrated near the surface. Some large buyers of cut opal or finished jewelry require sellers to provide samples of the rough opal when making large purchases. The difference between a real opal and a customized one is not so clearly displayed. For those who know opals, they can identify colored opals by sight. Usually it doesn't take much dedication to make these opals original, but this takes experience. Opal Value: Ethiopian opals have strong value. They are very valuable for their brilliant flash of color. Costed opals have almost the same value because more often than not they are often misprinted. Opals are more valuable depending on the type of opals you want. In most of the.