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Mammoth ivory is the fossilized tusk material of the woolly mammoth, an elephant ancestor that has been extinct for 10,000 years. Mammoth tusks grew up to 16 ft long and are collected today mainly on the steppes of Siberia. Moonstone is a variety of orthoclase, a feldspar. It often has a sky blue opalescent sheen, also called schiller or fire, making the stone look as if it is glowing. The sheen is created by thin layering of orthoclase with another mineral, albite. Moonstone was used in jewelry from 100 AD in Rome and even earlier in Asia. 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. 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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