Featured Opal/glass pendant?

16 inches long, the pendant is half an inch long. The chain has the diamond shape with NS in it which I think stands for nickel silver. The ‘opal’ confuses me, is it a sliver of opal set in glass? Was this commonly done for insertion into cheaper metals? It’s hard to tell. I’ve only ever had the white opals which seemed full opals, I’m not sure about this one. Any ideas please? Thanks.
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We'll see what others say. I doubt there is any genuine opal involved; the setting is too inexpensive a one. In the earlier 60s I had a ring I loved very much, set with a similar looking 'stone'.

 

Opal triplet! A slice of opal between a black back and a domed glass/resin front
Affordable and colorful piece.

 

The opal slice is very thin in those...

 

I had a thought that maybe at one time opal was a lot cheaper and they could cut a sliver and set it in a glass cabochon.

 

Thanks Kyratango, I was typing as you answered. It is glass not resin. It was affordable too at £1.

 

Oh, not exactly, the slice isn't sliced from a good whole opal
Because opal is and has always bern expensive, a too thin colorbar in rough stone can only be used in a doublet or triplet, giving a good effect and can be sold not trashed

 

There’s a tv show I love to watch here in U.K. called Aussie outback opal hunters. They get the bland Potch, the red and yellow opal which I knew nothing about, the more familiar white and black and boulder opal. So exciting when in all the dust they see a gleam of colour in the rock face. They found a bit of fossilised shell opal, about 6ins long sort of a tube like a belemnite worth a coooool million!

 

Opalized ammonites seem to be relatively common. Have seen a huge one similar to this, in a museum display:



Was it the type of organism that made tube one worth so much. Or size?

 

The Virgin Rainbow is the million dollar one. It’s because it’s a belemnite. It’s in an Australian museum. It’s said it glows in the dark. Not very big but spectacular in colours.
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There’s another one valued in 2005 at Aus $1million called the Aurora Australis. 3ins long 180 carats.

 

This all makes my tiny piece look very dull and ordinary!

 

"opalised" Ammonite is called Ammolite, and it isn't strictly opal; only a thin layer shows this distinctive color.
The million dollar belemnite is WHOLE opal, of an extremely nice color!

 

The color in your triplet is a dream too! No need of a huge piece to dream while looking into it

 

I’ll just keep watching the TV show!