17.56 ct Colorless Opal - Pear

At 17.56 carats, this opal from Ethiopia carries its colorless face through a pear cut, measuring 23.5 x 18.5 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 carries no treatment of any kind, so the color you see is the color that came out of the ground.

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.