Opal is renowned for its magnificent and beautiful play of color against various colored backgrounds as well as the endless variations of patterns produced by the flashes of color. All natural opal contains water.  For this reason, natural opals need to be maintained in a damp cloth in order to ensure that they do not dry out and crack or even disintegrate.  

     Lannyte Company’s Simulated Opal differs from its natural counterpart only in that it contains no water.  Since our Simulated Opal is not chemically identical to the natural, it must be called simulated opal and not laboratory-grown opal.  Nobody has produced true laboratory-grown opal.

Natural opal vs. Lannyte’s Simulated Opal
Comparison Chart

Properties
Chemical Composition
 
Refractive Index
Hardness
Specific Gravity
Degree of Transparency
Crystal Character
 
Fracture
Phenomena
Cohesion Blows
Resistance to Heat
Porosity
Water Content
Reactions to fluids and other liquids used in gem testing
Natural Opal
SiO2, A1203
Alkalies  H20 
1.45 
5.0 to 6.0
1.25 to 2.23
Transparent to Opaque
Amorphous
Alkalies  H20
Conchoidal
Play of Color
Avoid Sharp Blows
Poor
Porous
Up to 17%
S.G. liquids could damage very porous material and should be avoided
Simulated Opal
SiO2, A1203
Alkalies
1.49 to 1.51
5.0 to 6.0
2.41 to 2.50
Transparent to Opaque
Amorphous
Alkalies  H20
Conchoidal
Play of Color
Resists Sharp Blows
High
Non-porous
Anhydrous
 
None
 

Note: In view of the fact that no two pieces of opal can ever look identical, Lannyte’s Guarantee does not apply to simulated opal.