Hold a rainbow in your hand: all-opal auction set for Feb. 28

Natural multicolor opal, 2.45 carats, estimated at $60-$70

NEW YORK – On Tuesday, February 28, starting at 6 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will present a sale titled Exclusive All Opal Auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Jasper52 also conducts sales of loose gemstones, but it could not, and indeed did not, fail to notice that the fiercest bidding wars in those auctions were almost always sparked by opals. Hence the creation of all-opal sales such as this one, which contains precisely 265 lots of the alluring gemstone.

None of the lots on offer are enormous; the largest is just below five carats in weight. But opals need not be massive to make an impression. Their firey multicolor complexions – it seems that no two are alike – are sufficiently bewitching to allay any concerns about size.

Natural multicolor opal, 3.01 carats, estimated at $70-$80

Most of the examples are simply described as natural multicolor opals, followed by their carat weights, but a few black fire opals appear in the lineup as well. These include a 3.10-carat square-cut opal featuring a strong shade of deep blue accented with dark pink, pale green and bright green; a 2.26-carat oval opal, its black background festooned with splotches of hot pink, red, school bus yellow, blue and green; and a 1.36-carat cabochon that looks like a psychedelic television weather map with an electric green storm front rolling across the blue mainland.

And while the estimates read as modest, mostly hovering in the high two digits, know that you are unlikely to win any opal at the listed sums. Come prepared to fight for what you want.

Highlights include a 2.71-carat natural multicolor opal that represents a sort of symphony in yellow. The many shades of the cheerful hue are accompanied by flickers of orange – some neon, some simply warm in appearance. It is estimated at $70-$80.

Natural multicolor opal, 2.71 carats, estimated at $70-$80

Another standout is a 3.01-carat natural multicolor opal in a faceted cabochon cut that shows off its shades of ectoplasm green, midnight blue, and sunset orange. As with its mostly yellow counterpart, its estimate is $70-$80.

Completing the highlights is a faceted pear-shape natural multicolor opal weighing 2.45 carats and blessed with a diverse color palette of orange-red, yellow-green, bright green, dark blue and purple. It has an estimate of $60-$70.

Click to view top auction results on LiveAuctioneers: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/