The top gem quality Australian opals command top prices and such opals have been sold for over one million dollars.  Quality boulder opals have two distinct and sometimes separate qualities.

First they can be nature's paintings using a mix of red and black ironstone, fossilized wood, golden opalized clay set in a stained glass configuration, that produces the startling 'matrix'. Sometimes the cabochon or dome of the opal is pitted and this is called an inclusion. Most opals either top quality or otherwise have such inclusions. It is often a consequence of the different opalized materials that come into conjunction to make the picture that nature intends. It also is a guarantee that the opal is natural.

The second quality is that of the 'iridescent crystal' that divides nature's painting into its parts. This crystal can be layered horizontally or vertically. Horizontally it produces broad 'flashes' of color. Vertically it produces either intense florescent changes within the matrix or pin-fire starlight.

All the best opals excel in all or a singular regard, and some often combine two or more effects. These are the gems of quality and are the ones I look for and feature on ebay. There are many opals in the marketplace but at Cowdisley we only buy the artistically outstanding. They allow the imagination to soar, romance and drama to amplify, and brutal reality to disappear. Wear one in a ring or pendant and you will carry the true history of the earth in living color. This is such an opal!

One other caveat here... opals appreciate strong light, be it strong incandescent or natural sunlight, then they give their utmost which is often never surpassed by any other gemstone.