[Jewelry making - Article 01224] - Re: [Orchid] Opal fakes?

[The Doctor]

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>>         Synthetic Opal can exhibit a honeycomb effect when viewed
>>    under magnification. 

>     This is interesting! Can you expand on this? "Can" seems to suggest
>     that it may not. Does natural opal ever show the same pattern?
>     Thanks!

    You're welcome, Noel. Yes, "can" does suggest that it may not. Some
    batches of synthetic opal can be very convincing. As for natural
    opal, I've yet to see one that displays the effect, but that doesn't
    mean it can't happen. There is a naturally occurring oolitic opal
    formation that can look very similar to "snakeskin" but is subtly
    different. As I said, some synthetics are very difficult to separate
    from natural opal. 

James S. Duncan, G.G.
James in SoFl

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