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The Quality and Cuts of Opal
 Opal is a semi-precious stone with plenty of myth surrounding it. It’s been considered both lucky and unlucky in it’s time and even today people regard this stone with superstition. When shopping for Opal it pays to know a little bit about what you are paying for.
This stone is in fact considered to be a mineraloid gel by scientists, because it actually contains water. So, despite its rainbow like shades of color, the Opal can be quite fragile.
It also shows up in many forms from pure white, (not as highly prized), to blue with flashes of color from across the color spectrum. In addition, Opal that has a kind of translucency with its color can be found and is not only beautiful but also valuable.
Since Opal comes in many forms there are a few different ways that it is cut. If the found Opal stone comes in a relatively thick chunk the cutter usually likes to preserve the stone and cut it as a Cabochon solid. To imagine what this style resembles think of what a pie cut in half would look like from the side. Relatively thick, flat bottom, rounded top with angled sides.
If the Opal Jewelry you are looking features a thin veneer of the stone, it’s been cut as a Doublet. The stone is cut into a thin slice and backed with black or gray silica or even colorless Opal. This style cut is used for stones with lots of vibrant colors in it and the backing helps to show off these colors.
You may also come across Opal cut in the Triplet style with three layers. The Opal stone is thin cut, thinner than with a Doublet cut. It’s backed with a layer of gray or black silica and topped with a clear Quartz lens to help protect and enhance the Opal cut.
Lastly, you may come across Opal shaped for an Inlay. This Opal is thicker and basically looks like a rectangle from the side. It’s cut this way so that the stone lay level with surrounding metal frames. 
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