1.84 Ct. White Opal from Australia

This offering from The Natural Gemstone Company is a single, translucent White Opal weighing 1.84 carats, presented in a round outline with measurements 10.16 by 10.14 by 2.97 millimeters. The gem has been fashioned as a tablet cut, a shallow, broad cabochon style that emphasizes surface play of color through a gently domed top and a flattened pavilion. Clarity is graded eye clean when examined at normal viewing distance, with no inclusions apparent to the unaided eye that interrupt the color mosaic. Color intensity is classified as intense, and the surface finish is of excellent polish, producing crisp color transitions and well defined flashes. There has been no enhancement to this material, and provenance is Australia, a region well known for producing quality opal material with stable play of color and characteristic body tones.

The tablet cut selected for this piece is deliberate and technically appropriate for White Opal material when the cutter seeks to maximize broad flash and patchy color distribution rather than deep three dimensional color play. The cut features a low crown height relative to diameter and a controlled thickness of 2.97 millimeters, which preserves sufficient material to display saturated color without creating excessive depth that would dilute the spectral effect. The cutter has maintained good symmetry in the round outline, with diameter variance held to two hundredths of a millimeter, ensuring consistent optical response as the stone is rotated. The flat or slightly concave pavilion characteristic of tablet cuts also reduces internal scattering, channeling light back through the ordered silica sphere layers so that diffraction is reinforced, resulting in bright, intense spectral flashes. The polish quality is critical for this optical behavior, and the excellent polish noted here minimizes surface scattering and preserves contrast between the white translucent body and the multi color play of color.

Optically, this White Opal exhibits a multi color palette with prominent red and orange flashes, broad fields of green, and secondary blue to violet accents that shift with viewing angle. The patterning is best described as a broad flash to patchy mosaic, where larger contiguous color patches dominate the table area and smaller, denser color specks provide reticulated texture toward the periphery. The intensity grading of intense indicates that the spectral colors are vivid against the translucent white body, rather than weak or washed out, and this is supported by the observed saturation and contrast in bright white and diffuse lighting conditions. Because opal color results from diffraction by submicroscopic silica spheres, the apparent color distribution here reflects a well ordered sphere packing regime in localized domains, which is preserved by the cutting orientation that aligns these domains toward the viewing plane. From a gemological handling perspective, the eye clean clarity supports mounting options that expose the table, as there are no internal features that require concealment, and the absence of enhancements means the material has not been impregnated or treated, preserving natural hydration levels and inherent response to environmental conditions.

For practical use and design integration, the dimensional proportions and tablet profile make this opal particularly well suited to bezel and halo settings, pendants, and low profile rings where surface exposure maximizes play of color while reducing mechanical stress on the edges. The shallow depth and stable round outline allow consistent seat fitting in circular bezels, and a modest bezel lip will also protect the edge from chips while maintaining the optical viewing plane. When considering metal choice, warmer tones such as yellow gold will add a slight warmth to the white opal body and can accentuate red and orange flashes, whereas white metals will present the color palette with neutral background contrast that emphasizes green and blue components. Care recommendations include avoiding prolonged exposure to heat, strong solvents, and ultrasonic cleaning, as opal is a hydrated mineraloid and can be sensitive to rapid loss of structural water. As communicated by The Natural Gemstone Company this single, unenhanced Australian White Opal is offered with full disclosure of its origin, cut, and grading attributes, and we are available to provide additional photomicrographic documentation or viewing under controlled lighting profiles on request to support design, valuation, and certification workflows.