Opals
Gemstones
Jewelry
Coins
Opal Brightness and Body Tone Guide
The Opal Body Tone Guide was designed and created by the Opal Association of Australia and acts as a guide for Black Opal and Boulder Opals. The Opal industry has recently also been using this guide for many Opal types including Ethiopian Opals.
Body Tone Guide
Body Tone N1 - N4 - Is for black tone body types.
Body Tone N5 - N6 - Is for Dark Opal, where the body tone is not dark enough to be classified as a Black Opal, and it is too dark to be classified as a light colored Opal. Most of this material will come from Lightning Ridge as well.
Body Tone N7 - N9 - Is for light coloured Opals mined also at Lightning Ridge but these lower body tone grades can and have been used on Coober Pedy Opals and Ethiopian Opals.
{{video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPMEUhEcv3c&t=11s}}
The body tone of an opal is different to the play of color displayed by precious opal. The body tone refers to the relative darkness or lightness of the opal. Thus you ignore the pattern, play of color and the base of the stone. This is assessed on a scale of body tone accepted in current opal nomenclature and adopted by the opal association.
Opal that has a distinct colored body with yellow, orange, red or brown tone can still be classed as black, dark or crystal Opal by reference to the scale of the base body chart. So any opal can be classed using the base body scale chart.
Opal Brightness Guide
The Opal Brightness Guide assists in assigning a value to how bright an Opal is to the naked eye. Opal brightness can be described as
Vivid
Very Bright
Bright
Moderate
Subdued
Search the Opal Encyclopedia
Related Auctions
Related Articles
Australian Black Opal is one of the rarest gemstones on earth. It has every color of the rainbow on a black ground which makes the colors dance.
8th May 2018
Boulder Opal is one of the most undervalue opals valuable on the market. Learn more about this unique opal and browse the beautifully stones we have for sale.
29th May 2019
With a passion for opals, Wayne and Estella Sedawie established Opal Plus more that 14 years ago and have found the internet to be a valuable tool. It’s where most of the company’s international transactions take place.
17th Oct 2018
Latest Articles
An opal’s price comes down to a variety of factors, all of which we’ve broken down in this guide to opal grading and prices. Learn all about opal grading and the prices of each type of opal!
19th Jul 2023
Come on a journey and learn about the healing power of opals from our guest writer Vivien Schapera from Crystal Healing Techniques!
20th May 2023
The Flame (or Fire) Queen opal is the world’s most expensive opal, sold for the modern equivalent of $3 million dollars. Learn all about its history and qualities!
18th Feb 2023
Article Categories
All there is to know about Opals including Black Opals, Ethiopian Opals & Boulder Opal
15 Articles
Check out our fascinating information and articles on all things amazing in the Opal world
43 Articles
Opal Auctions sellers who are approved as opal Verified Sellers
4 Articles