Play-of-color patches in black opal display interesting written character patterns.

Gem Testing lab in Jaipur, India recently examined a white-brown, translucent to opaque oval cabochon that turned out to be a composite featuring an unusual combination of gem materials.

This section, from the Winter 2011 issue of Gems & Gemology, is a compilation of interesting finds from GIA’s laboratories.

Commercial quantities of gem-quality chrysoprase and green prase opal (nickel-bearing chalcedony and common opal, respectively) have been recovered from altered serpentinite deposits near Haneti, Tanzania.