12.99 ct Brown Opal - Oval

At 12.99 carats, this opal from Ethiopia carries its brown color through an oval cut, measuring 19.8 x 16.8 x 8.5 mm.

Opal is hydrated silica that can break white light into a play of living color, a fire no two stones repeat; it holds up to a fifth of its weight in water, which is why it glows in a way nothing crystalline does. It is entirely untreated; no heat, no enhancement, the color exactly as the earth made it.

A single natural gemstone with no duplicate behind it; once it is set or collected, there is no other. It will outlast everyone who owns it, which is most of what an heirloom really is. Hand-selected and filmed by Caveman Gems in good light, shown as honestly as a screen allows.