23/10/2026
An opal’s play-of-colour is not just about how many colours appear. It is also about how those colours are distributed across the stone.
This 9.08-carat opal displays a pale, translucent-looking body appearance with scattered patches of orange-red, yellow, green and blue play-of-colour. The warm flashes are particularly noticeable against the lighter background, while the green and blue areas add contrast.
In opals, this shifting display of colour is known as play-of-colour. It occurs when the internal structure of suitable opal material diffracts light, producing different colours as the viewing angle or illumination changes.
For a gemstone trader, an important distinction is between the presence of colour and its overall visual distribution. The size of the colour patches, their coverage across the face, their brightness and their visibility from different angles all contribute to how an opal presents itself.
This is why evaluating an Australian opal should involve more than a single photograph. Rotation, lighting conditions, body appearance and the visibility of colour across the face all deserve attention.
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