Thursday, June 14, 2018

What Is Angel Aura Opalite? Is It a Gemstone?

I stumbled across pictures of "Angel Aura Opalite" this morning, and the colors really caught my eye---I honestly gasped at how beautiful it is!  But what is it exactly?  Is it a gemstone?  What is "Angel Aura"? 
Angel Aura Opalite Crescent Moons
What is Opalite?
It's not a gemstone or a mineral---it is a type of opalescent glass.  Opalite is always man-made glass.  It is NOT quartz.  

Mystic Coatings
There are different metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and/or titanium, that are used to coat gemstones, rhinestones, crystals, or CZ, that cause beautiful rainbows of colors.  These look like a soap bubble, or oil on water---a rainbow of blues, greens, teals, many different and always-changing colors. 

Angel Aura Quartz
Angel Aura is a coating that's very popular.  Through a special vapor deposition process, genuine silver and platinum vapor is fused to heated quartz (or other stone) in a vacuum chamber.  This allows the gold atoms to fuse with the outside crystals.   Sometimes this same coating is called "Starlight" on CZ jewelry, for example.
Rainbow Aura Quartz

This same process using other vaporized metals on quartz or glass or on other minerals results in  "Rainbow Aura" (titanium and gold) or golden "Sunset Aura" or  "Flame Aura" (electrostatic-bonded titanium onto unheated quartz) or  "Opal Aura" but the process is the same---vaporized metals are permanently bonded to crystals, often quartz crystals, but sometimes on other gems such as topaz, or CZ or crystals (such as Swarovski crystals).  Although this process is usually permanent, sometimes the coating can get scratched so it's best to be careful when wearing mystic coated jewelry.
Aqua Aura Quartz

When gold is fused to quartz, it's called "Aqua Aura" and leaves a beautiful blue-rainbow coating.


Sadly, there are even fake "aura quartz" stones---these are perhaps just painted or cheaply coated (and it scratches right off), or sometimes "quartz clusters" are just pieces glued together, so beware when buying online.



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These "mystic" coated crystals or gemstones have been around for a long time.  The results are extremely beautiful in a wide range of colors.  Mystic coated quartz is very popular, including mystic coated Amethyst, as well as Mystic Topaz.

Angel Aura Opalite Arrowhead
Angel Aura Opalite is a coated glass, not a gemstone--but is incredibly beautiful and fascinating to look at!