ArtFire

This fabulous blue opal came from the JR Mine in Arizona. The opal has very nice blue color and takes an excellent polish. As far as I know there are no other blue opal mines operating in the state of Arizona. This is what is known as a common opal with no play of color, however there is nothing common about Arizona Blue Opal.
The material is not only extremely rare, but is very difficult to extract from the rock in which is it found without damaging it.
This Arizona Blue Opal was first discovered by Cheri Saunders in 1969. She is still the current owner of the mine.
I have been very fortunate to get some prime cabbing material from her to make some wonderful cabochons from this unique and highly collectable material.
While the mine has been worked for many, many years, there is actually very little material that was ever extracted. This is a rare opal indeed!

ORIGIN: Southern Arizona
SIZE (millimeters): 29mm Wide x 21mm Tall x 4mm Thick
Carats: 18
DOME: Low Dome
BOTTOM: Flat
EDGE: Rounded Edge
EDGE HEIGHT: N/A
POLISH: Excellent
KNOWN TREATMENTS: None
BACKING: None
(Note: 1"=25.4mm all sizes and weights are approximate)

The first three images were taken outdoors in full sun to get the most accurate colors possible in the photographs. The fourth image was taken indoors with a flash showing how the cabochon was measured.