I first stumbled across dendritic opal while in a gem shop in India. Where does dendritic opal come from?ĭendritic opal is most commonly found in India, Turkey, and Africa. Dendritic opals actually have an amazing range of white, greys, and blacks that are as subtle as they are striking. (Though sometimes there are so many inclusions that the stones appear black, rather than white.) But don’t let the limited color palette fool you. It’s these inclusions (formed when minerals seeped into the base stone) that makes dendritic opal so interesting and unique.Īgates actually come in a huge variety of colors, but one of the characteristics that set dendritic opals apart is that they always feature a white (or off-white or translucent white) base (which is why they are often called opals rather than agates) with dark inclusions. You might already be familiar with agates, as they’ve been pretty popular in jewelry the last few years, but you’re more likely used to seeing agate slices and banded agate than dendritic agate.ĭendritic (the word that that makes these stones such a mouthful to say) is just a fancy and technical term to describe those little inclusions throughout the stone that often look like trees or snowflakes or other beautiful, organic imagery. (Which is why you’ll also see it referred to as dendritic agate, and why you don’t have to worry if you’re one of those superstitious people who thinks that you can only wear an opal if you’ve got an October birthday.) Surprise! Dendritic opal isn’t actually an opal at all, it’s really a type of agate. Each stone truly is one of a kind, with incredible detail and interest, more like a miniature painting than a stone.Īnd since, almost two years later, I’m still totally obsessed with this stone (and since it’s also a mouthful to say) today I thought I’d answer the question… What is dendritic opal? The black and white color palette and fact that so many of the stones were cut into my signature leaf shape had me hooked from the start.īut after working with these stones as part of my Contra Collection, I’ve fallen in love even more. From the minute I first laid eyes on some dendritic opal in a gem shop in Jaipur, I knew it was going to be “my” stone.
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