Cultured Opal

Confetti, Dragon’s Eye, Fiji, Krakatoa, Marina, Marianas, Moonbeam, Sahara, Shadow, Viper and Bermuda. Krakatoa Now in Two Grain Sizes!

Easy Inlay’s jewelry-grade cultured opals contain the fire typically seen in rare opals and are optically, physically, and chemically identical to those found in nature. No one else sells 2-3 mm grains, large brilliant facets of noticeable fire that fill larger voids. They’re versatile and are easy to crush to fill smaller spaces, too. (Learn how to make your own DIY mortise and pestle here.)

Our new Krakatoa Fine grains are 2 mm / 30 mesh, light gray with red and green fire, a perfect size for smaller voids or channels, or to fill in between larger grains. This colour compliments all of our other opal colours.

Perfect for pens; blade handles; wine stoppers; boxes; vessels; and other inlay projects. 2 grams fill 30-inches by 1/8″ wide; 5 grams fill 75 inches by 1/8″ wide.

2g $25.95

CERAMIC CROPPED.jpg

Unlike natural stones, the colour, luminosity, and brightness of these opals will not fade over time. Our opals add a pop of colour that catches the light and the eye; professionals and crafters alike simply insert the grains into any void, small crack or knot; or blend with Easy Inlay’s mother of pearl to add visual depth and dimension. They’re contained in easy-to-store jars, too.

ring wood Koa finished.jpg

In the lab, these opals can take about a year to grow. Made from approximately 80 percent silica, scientists arrange spheres in a lattice pattern to imitate the structure of a jewelry-quality opal. Then they stabilize the pores of the structure with silica gel; the result is an opal that exhibits the fire and iridescence of their natural, more expensive counterparts.

On the Mohs Hardness Scale, our opals have a hardness of 4 and are easily sanded using silicon carbine (carborundum) or aluminum oxide (corundum) sand paper, which has a hardness of 9.0. They are durable and provide an excellent surface to polish and/or finish. Available in eleven colours: Fiji (dark green/blue), Marina (blue), Viper (green), Krakatoa (light gray), Confetti (purple), Dragon’s Eye (red), Marianas (dark blue), Moonbeam (white), Sahara (yellow), Bermuda (Pink) and Shadow (dark gray).    

  CAUTION: Drilling, sawing, sanding or machining wood products can expose you to wood dust.  Avoid inhaling wood dust or use a dust mask or other safeguards for personal protection. 

Mohs Hardness Scale

​Mohs scale of mineral hardness is named after the scientistFriedrich Mohs, who invented a scale of hardness based on the ability of one mineral to scratch another. Rocks are made up of one or more minerals.

According to the scale, Talc is the softest: it can be scratched by all other materials. Gypsum is harder: it can scratch talc but not calcite, which is even harder. The hardness of a mineral is mainly controlled by the strength of the bonding between the atoms and partly by the size of the atoms. It is a measure of the resistance of the mineral to scratching.

bello_opal_logo_R_.jpg

​

Shopping cart

0
image/svg+xml

No products in the cart.

Continue Shopping