The Gemstone Art of Gary Nickel

Old Opal Eye

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Old Opal Eye

This sculpted piece of opalized petrified wood reminds us of a prehistoric fish. The opalized body has a mysterious velvety sheen and translucence and transmits and reflects light differently from zone to zone. Its "eye" is a wonderful 12 mm oval Brazilian Fire Opal and its gills are outlined by five - 3 mm Mexican Fire Opals. At the opposite end the tail is punctuated by three - 4 mm round White Topaz. To make this piece even more interesting it fluoresces under ultraviolet light. (Height 5")

Petrified wood, at times, is formed or opalized by silica mineral fluids filling cavities of decayed wood; other times the mineral fluids slowly replace the organic material as it decays leaving replicas of the original wood grain. In this specimen the entire piece is highly opalized. This piece also shows a good degree of fluorescence under ultraviolet light.