Mexican Cantera Opal Cabochon - Jalisco, Mexico Lapidary Locality: Taxco de Alarcón

Locality: Taxco de Alarcón

This optical phenomenon creates a silvery-blue or greenish sheen within the stone

allowing rich pigment molecules to travel along these newly formed fissures

Each crystal point is unique in size

Subject: Sleeping Dragon

Mexican Cantera Opal Cabochon - Jalisco, Mexico Lapidary Locality: Taxco de AlarcónIve always been fascinated by how certain minerals look when they are left partially embedded in their host rock, and this Mexican Cantera Opal Cabochon is a perfect example of that natural contrast. In Spanish, "Cantera" translates to quarry or stone, which refers to the pinkish tan rhyolite matrix that surrounds the precious opal. Instead of being cut out as a traditional gemstone, these specimens are shaped and polished so that the opal sits like a