Synthetic Opal
Synthetic opals are created in a laboratory and are difficult to identify from natural opals without laboratory tests. There are a few clues, however, that can help you suspect synthetic opals.
First of all, synthetic opals have an incredible fire, or play of color to them. Second, most synthetic opals have a pattern that is generally too regular to occur naturally. Sometimes they also have a globular pattern to them and when viewed from the side, most synthetic opals seem to have a play of color that occurs in columns rather than the random play of color that occurs naturally. Finally, synthetic opals are generally a little lighter than natural opals. It is important to note that none of these characteristics prove that an opal is synthetic; but, while they can occur naturally, they normally don't.
