CHALCEDONY AND FIRE OPALS Earrings featuring two drops of translucent blue chalcedony, exceptional for their size, purity and dense colour. They are topped with trillion-shaped fire opals in a very bright, saturated orange with great transparency. A diamond between the two stones illuminates the whole. The whole set is mounted on an 18k (750 thousandths) white gold shank. Length: 3.6 cm. Gross weight: 8.3 g. Chalcedony is an unfamiliar name, but its varieties are well known, such as agate, onyx, chrysoprase and carnelian. This stone is not particularly transparent or translucent, as it is made up of many layers forming bands called fibres, like ribboned agate, for example. These fibres are quartz crystallites. Sometimes very high quality agate is transparent with a homogeneous colour, but this is rare, especially when the stones worked are large. This is the case with these earrings made from drops that combine these extraordinary qualities of translucency and uniform colour. They are topped with diamonds and saturated fire opals of great purity and extraordinary fire. The choice of these uncommon precious materials is a clear indication that this is the art of jewellery-making, combining the highest quality with simplicity of form.