Peacock Opal

Peacock Opal is a trade name for precious opal whose play-of-color is dominated by the vivid blues, greens, and teals reminiscent of a peacock's feathers. Much material sold under this name is Ethiopian Welo opal, though similar color displays occur in opal from other sources.

The term emphasizes the cool, jewel-toned color palette rather than a specific locality or body tone. The stone may be transparent, crystal, or on a lighter body, with the blue-green flashes shifting as it moves.

Peacock opal is popular for its bold yet harmonious color range, bridging the look of black opal and bright crystal opal.

Peacock opal forms when silica-rich water deposits orderly stacks of uniform hydrated-silica spheres in cavities of host rock. The diffraction of light through these stacks produces play-of-color, and the dominant blue-green tones arise from a particular range of sphere sizes.

Ethiopian Welo opal, the most common source of peacock material, forms in volcanic deposits within layers of weathered rhyolitic tuff. Much of this opal is hydrophane, meaning it can absorb water.

The relative uniformity and spacing of the silica spheres determine the spectral colors; sphere sizes that favor the blue-green end of the spectrum yield the peacock effect.

Identify peacock opal by play-of-color dominated by blue, green, and teal flashes that shift with viewing angle. The body may be transparent or light, letting the cool colors dominate.

Hardness is about 5.5-6.5, streak white, fracture conchoidal. Ethiopian peacock opal is often hydrophane: it may temporarily turn cloudy or transparent when wet, a strong identification clue.

Look-alikes include synthetic opal (regular columnar pattern under magnification), opalite glass (only a uniform blue glow, no directional flash), and labradorite (a feldspar showing blue-green schiller but with cleavage and greater hardness, ~6-6.5). The directional, multicolored play-of-color distinguishes true opal.

Peacock Opal is used in jewelry as cabochons and beads, valued for its rich blue-green color play. Ethiopian material has made such opal more affordable and widely available.

Because much peacock opal is hydrophane, it should be kept away from water, oils, and lotions, which can be absorbed and temporarily dull the color; it also needs protection from heat and impact like all opal.

Metaphysically, blue-green opal is associated with the throat and heart chakras, communication, and emotional balance, claims that are spiritual rather than scientific.