#21 I16c-262 Mexican Fire Opal 11.9mm Sq. Cushion 5.37cts TIA

For hundred of years, ancient Mayans and Aztecs cherished the Mexican fire opals they would find near the slumbering volcanoes of their homelands. Known as “quetzalitzlipyollitli” to these indigenous peoples and used in rituals and adornment alike, today's translation is known as “the stone of the bird of paradise”. Along with these great civilization's decline, knowledge of Mexican fire opal was lost to history for a time and was only rediscovered to be linked with lore in the early 1800's. Though Mexico is home to the finest and historical examples, similar instances of fire opal can modernly found abroad in North America, Central America, Ethiopia, and Australia.