A red blue multicolor flashfire glitters across this unique Australian black opal fossilized seashell.  It is mounted on a 14K gold plate and attached to a 1.1 mm 14K spiga chain to create this one of a kind necklace.  The black opal is approximately 1 1/8 inches (2.8 cm) wide by 1/2 inch (1.1 cm) tall and is backed with a black epoxy.  The stone was handcut by local artisan, Bruce London.  The total length of the necklace is 17 inches with a spring ring clasp.

More about black opals:  Opal can be either transparent or opaque.  Opaque opal ranges in "tone" from white to jet black.  The transparent pieces look like a piece of glass that is filled with rainbow colors.  The opaque opals look like a white or grey or black rock filled with rainbow colors.  Black opal is, by far, the scarcest and most valuable type. Bruce has only had a few small pieces of black opal to work with over the years.  But, he got lucky and found the big black opalized seashell featured in this necklace in a recently purchased parcel.  BTW:  the fact that it is a shell makes it even scarcer...

Caring for the Opals:  Avoid exposing the opal to sharp temperature changes and be sure to remove opal jewelry before bathing or swimming.  When storing your opals, avoid low humidity environments like safety deposit boxes as this will potentially cause your opals to dry out and crack.

*What are opalized seashells?  Essentially they are ancient shells that as they turned to fossils while buried in the sand, their environment transformed them into opals.  Over 100 million years ago, the Eromanga Sea covered much of inland Australia.  Many fossils are found in these ancient beds today, including opalized seashells.