The Wade Gem Collection - Fire Opal in Matrix

Jeptha Homer Wade II (1857-1926) commissioned Mr. George F. Kunz of Tiffany's in New York to assist him in preparing a collection of fine colored gemstones. Mr. Wade was particularly interested in color in gems as a quality in its own right, and desired to provide his collection with an example of both the usual and rarer colors of each gem species. His donation of some 800 stones in 1924, augmented with later additions by other members of his family, created the incredible base on which the collection would grow. It is one of the finest collections of gem materials in North America.

Opal is composed of well-ordered uniform-sized spheres of hydrated silica (silica + water). The packing arrangement and size of these spheres produces a surface that diffracts or "bends" white light into colored light.