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Brightness
of Color
The brightness of
the fire coming out of an opal is one of the most important contributors to
its beauty and value. It is also the most difficult characteristic to judge
consistently. One reason for this is that people cannot keep the degree of brightness
of a stone accurately in their mind over time. There is a tendency to elevate
the brightness of the stone the person is currently examining relative to others
seen previously. The other reason is that brilliance is seriously affected by
the light under which the opal is viewed. This is why some opal sellers use
those little high power lamps. They make an opal appear brighter than it would
appear in natural sunlight , thus giving the impression that the stone is of
greater brightness that it is, implying it has a greater market value. Remember,
brightness is the amount of light coming back from the opal and moving the opal
away from the light gives you an idea of how well the brightness holds as lighting
changes.
Brightness Table
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Brightness
Level
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Name
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Description
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1
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Faint
|
Shows
play of color only under direct sunlight and even then the fire is faint. |
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2
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Dull
|
Shows
some color under low light but even under indirect sunlight or the grading
lamp the fire is dull. |
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3
|
Bright
|
Shows
fair color under low light and very nice fire under indirect sunlight or
the grading lamp. |
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4
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Very
Bright
|
Shows
good color under low light and sharp crisp color under indirect sunlight
or the grading lamp. |
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5
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Brilliant
|
Shows
exceptionally bright crisp color under indirect sunlight or the grading
lamp and often shows even brighter in subdued light. |
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Beautiful Australian Opals