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Aquamarine, along with emerald, is a gemstone variety of the silicate mineral beryl. Its name meaning "sea water," aquamarine ranges in color from a sea-green to a sky-blue and generally forms large, somewhat clear crystals. In ancient times, aquamarine jewelry was thought to protect sailors. Opals form when silica gel hardens in the cracks of other rocks. Most of the world's precious opal comes from Australia, where opal is the national gem. A boulder opal is an opal that has been sliced together with its surrounding ironstone for a varied look. Fire opal from Mexico comes in shades of orange and Peruvian opal is an opaque blue-green stone. An opal doublet has polished precious opal on the top with an ironstone backing added for strength, making the slice of opal less prone to chipping. Natural pearls are formed when an foreign object becomes trapped in the shell of an oyster or pearl and the animal surrounds the object with several mineral layers in order to protect its soft tissue. Most pearls sold today are farmed pearls, created by intentionally inserting small mother-of-pearl beads in the oyster's shell. The resulting pearls are harvested up to two years later. Pearls come in a range of pastel colors from cream to blue to pink, and irregularly shaped pearls are often called "baroque" pearls. Mabe pearls are hemispherical cultured pearls grown against the inside shell of an oyster rather than in the mollusk's body. Mabe pearls are typically used in settings such as that conceal their flat backs. This attractive opal stone is an authentic Australia fire flash black opal doublet that has a boulder ironstone backing. It is made with excellent quality blue-green opal with multi-color sparkles.
An "opal-doublet" has the polished precious real opal on the top and ironstone backing. As a result the slice of opal is thicker, stronger and less prone to chipping. As a rule, opal doublets are cheaper than solids, but this is not always the case. Some high quality doublets can be more expensive than lower quality solids, and this pendant contains a high quality doublet. GORGEOUS.<
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