| The Mexican Fire Opal is totally outside the mainstream of expectation. This beautiful, charismatic gem comes from mines of Magdalena, in the state of Jalisco. It owes its name to the immense variety of tonalities or colors. |
|
Natural colors or fires are like rainbows that leap into the eyes of its admires, fulfilling the most demanding taste. Those who see it love it as a true reminder of their Mexican vacations.
The Fire Opal
Fire Opals are unique in the lush world of the opals. They were already admired as symbols of the most fervent love in ancient times, in India and in the ancient Persian kingdom, and among the people of Central America and the Amerindians. It was believed that a gem the bubbled over with vivacity to such an extent as the fire opal could only have been created in the waters of paradise.
The Mayas and Aztecs loved this gemstone and liked to use it in mosaics and for ritualistic purposes. They called it quetzalitzlipyollitli, the” stone of the bird of paradise’. Yet one day, the gemstone knowledge of Mexico’s natives, which had been handed down from generation to generation, somehow sank into oblivion for a long time… |
…until, in or around the year 1835, the fiery treasures hidden in the Mexican highlands were remembered, and work was gradually begun on the systematic mining of the places where they had been found. Today, the fire opal is regarded as the national gemstone of that country.
It is in México that the most significant fire opal deposits in the world lie. Rock strata containing opals run through the Mexican Highlands, with their many extinct volcanoes. With a few exceptions, the gemstone, which lies hidden in cavities and crevices, is extracted in open-cast mines, the work giving rise to impressive canyons with walls up to 60 meters high and labyrinthine passages which wind their way through the mining areas. |
|
The Mexican Fire Opal
-Jewelry Factory-
Blvd. Mijares #5, downtown San Jose del Cabo,
Baja California Sur, Mexico
(Right in the main Kiosko Plaza)
Ph: 011 52 (624) 142-6394
|
|
E-mail: eduardo1085@hotmail.com
Copyright © 2008 - Joseph A. Tyson - Tyson Promotions Inc - All Rights Reserved
Los Cabos Magazine - Los Cabos Visitor's Guide - Promociones Tyson, S. A. de C. V.
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico - Last Revision - December 30, 2006 - AAS
|
|
