Opal Brightness and Patterns

Description and information about Opal Brightness and Patterns from Lightning Ridge Australia :

Old Brightness Chart

old Australian opal brightness chart

Opal patterns

Before 2018 there were two different Brightness scales.
This created a lot of confusion on how to grade the Brightness of an Opal. This has been recently changed to one universal brightness scale. Brightest 5 to 1-being the Dullest  (and not) 1 to, 7-being the Dullest "

An Opal Brightness Scale assists in assigning a value to how bright an Opal is to the naked eye.
B5 being the Brightest and B1 being the Dullest.

On the left is just some of the patterns you might find in an Australian Opal. The names of the patterns are not a perfect science, as people will have a different perspectives on what to call a certain pattern.

The main patterns are , Pinfire, Floral, Flagstone, Ribbon, Broad Flash, Ribbon, Rolling Mackerel and Harlequin.

Then there secondary names such as, Chinese Writing, Rainbow, Peacock, Gem ect......

It's by mixing and matching that you may come to an accurate description of a pattern.

Take a tour of our Opals and descriptions

About Lightning Ridge

Lightning Ridge is located on the border of New south wale and Queensland and is the only place in the world where you will find the best quality non hydrophane black Opals.

Read about Lightning Ridge Dark  Opals - description and information.