Pink Opal

Pink opal is a variety of common opal, an amorphous hydrated silica mineraloid (SiO₂·nH₂O) that lacks the play-of-color seen in precious opal. Pink opal (also called Andean opal) is a variety of common opal - meaning it doesn't show the play-of-color fire that precious opal displays. Its soft pink color comes from organic compounds (quinacridone-like molecules) or from inclusions of palygorskite, a pink clay mineral, dispersed throughout the opal's silica structure.

Peruvian pink opal forms in Andean volcanic deposits where silica-rich solutions deposit in cavities and fractures within ignimbrite (welded volcanic ash). The specific organic compounds that produce the pink color are unique to the Peruvian deposits, giving this material a distinctive candy-pink that's softer and warmer than most other pink gemstones.

Pink opal is Peru's national stone, and Peruvian opal (both pink and blue-green varieties) has been mined and prized since pre-Columbian times. Inca craftspeople carved it into ceremonial objects and jewelry.

Pink opal is identified by its opaque to translucent body, soft pink color, waxy luster, and lower hardness (5-6). It has no play of color (unlike precious opal). The pink is typically even and gentle rather than vivid.

Distinguish from rose quartz (harder at 7, different luster), rhodonite (harder, often has black veining), and pink calcite (softer, fizzes in acid). Pink opal's waxy luster and moderate hardness are characteristic. It should not be confused with pink precious opal from Ethiopia or Australia (which shows play of color).