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Opals Along the Tequila Road

By Jordan Clary

Mexico has become the world's second most important producer of opal after Australia. So we sent our trusty travel correspondent to visit the country's main beehive of mining and buying activity.

A makeshift opal stand in Magdalena's town square.

"In Magdalena you'll find the best Mexican opals of all colors and grades," Martin Castillo Carrillo, owner of La Sorpresa, tells me. La Sorpresa, just a block from the town square, is like most of Magdalena's opal shops, a family affair. His sons, Edgar and Alex are co-owners, and the day I visited, Edgar was cutting and polishing stones.

Senor Martin Castillo Carrillo at La Sorpresa.

Two eyes - opal matrix.

La Sorpresa, which sits on top of a flight of concrete stairs, feels like stepping into a treasure trove. Small boxes filled with opals of all colors and grades crowd the shelves. The highest quality ones are a clear, fiery red or orange; these are the fire opals that are most well-known to the outside world. Carrillo also sells blue, green, black and white stones. Jewelry fills another case— opal in gold and silver pendants, earrings, rings and bracelets. Carrillo sends the stones out to factories where they are set and returned. Behind the counter, on a low shelf, is a random display of clay figurines, glass jars filled with water and rough opal and religious artifacts. Above it, on another shelf, hand-carved obsidian statues of ravens, turtles and Aztec chieftains in high headdresses keep watch over the shop. The obsidian is also mined locally in nearby La Joya. The walls are plastered with black velvet paintings of Indian maidens in the arms of braves, calendars from years past and an old magazine photo of Pope John Paul II. Wooden crosses and crucifixes dangle from nails.

Mexican Opal at La Sorpresa.

Martin Castillo Carrillo with one of his stones.

Carrillo's eyes light up when he talks about stones—whether they are opals or obsidian. "Look," he says to me, holding up a large piece of obsidian that has been sawed in half. "See the colors when the light shines on it. Now, come outside." I follow him to the landing where he holds it so the sunlight reflects on the surface. "See how the colors change. These stones make you feel the presence of God.

More than 80 opal mines are spread out around Magdalena. The area's first mine was discovered in the late 1950s, but according to legend, opals have a long history in Mexico. The Aztecs used a stone called "vitzitziptecpal," or "hummingbird stone" for ceremonies and rituals. The stone is described as a glittering gem that resembles the feathers of the hummingbird. After the Spanish conquest, many of the localities of the "hummingbird stone" were lost until 1840 when don José María Siurab discovered opal deposits in Esmeralda, Querétaro. Today Mexican opals come primarily from the three states of Querétaro, Nayarit and Jalisco.

Cristela Castillo Carrillo holding opal in matrix.

Cristela Castillo Carrillo at the Santa Rosita Mine.

On the second day of my visit, Carrillo's daughter, Cristela, and Teresa Ornelas from Magdalena's Department of Culture, took me to visit some of the mines.

Our first stop was the Santa Rosita mine.

Hector Healy at Santa Rosita Mine.

More than 30 years ago Hector Healy staked his claim and began digging the Santa Rosita mine. He's been working it ever since, patiently carving out new tunnels using nothing but a bulldozer and hand tools. Some years are better than others. In the past he sometimes hired outside workers but the truth is he doesn't really trust them so mostly he works by himself or with his son, Catarino Tamayo, when he's in town as he is on the day we visit them. Tamayo tells us that the problem is not just that it's hard to trust workers, but these days it's hard to find workers. More and more young men are moving to the large cities to find work, leaving a dearth of qualified workers in the rural areas where the mines are. He says that as Mexico's economy improves, there are better job opportunities to be found elsewhere. Mining is not as attractive as it once was unless you own the claim to your own mine.

Healy works all year, even during the rainy season when the danger of cave-ins is great. "It takes a lot of patience and courage to mine for opals," says Tamayo. "My father has more patience than I do. Sometimes we dig all day and don't find anything. But when you find a valuable stone, it makes it all seem worthwhile."

Tamayo leads us to one of the recently excavated shafts. Swallows dart in and out among the crevices and the air has a slightly amber look from reddish hue of the rocks. It's a pleasantly mild day in late May. In a few weeks the temperatures in this high desert will probably soar to 100 degrees or more. We climb down the tunnel and Tamayo points the beam of his flashlight at a pool of water. "We find most of the opal on the floor so we have to pump the water out first," he says.

Hector Healy, owner of Santa Rosita Mine.

Rough opal from the Santa Rosita mine goes to cutters all over the world, especially Japan. "The Japanese are good businessmen," says Healy. "They appreciate opals. They know a good stone and they know the market. I think the opals must look good on those kimonos they like to wear."

Tamayo agrees that Japan is the largest buyer, although he says that India is rapidly catching up. "India is quickly becoming a world gemstone center and they are buying more rough every year. China, too, has begun buying. Some European countries, such as Germany, also purchase from us. And, of course, we sell domestically. We have very few customers from the United States."

Opuntia, Jewelry by Carlos Cabral.

Carlos Cabral, a jeweler from Guadalajara buys rough opal from Magdalena. "Years ago I started to investigate which were the most representative gems in Mexico, the ones with more history, the ones rooted in Pre-Hispanic Mexico," he says. "I chose Cortez Sea Pearls, Chiapas Amber and Jalisco Opals. Although, I may use some other gems in my pieces, these three are my favorites." Cabral's customers, who are mostly international, are attracted to his designs that evoke Mexico's rich history while combining it with a modern vision. His favorite Jalisco opals are the fire opals. "Their intensity what I love the most," he says. "They are full of fire, full of life, their inner color sparkling, a whole rainbow immersed within the gem."

About a mile up the road from Santa Rosita the Huejical mine spreads out over a quarter mile. Unlike Santa Rosita, the owners of Huejical use explosives so there are warning signs posted along the way. A couple of miners are sitting on top of a stone pile sifting through the loose rock. "Are you finding anything?" I ask them.

They shake their heads. "Not today."

Still, Magdalena's economy is largely dependent on opals and obsidian according to Ornelas. As well as La Sorpresa, a number of opal shops cluster around the downtown area. Even the hotel where I'm staying, Hotel el Opalo, has a small shop in the lobby where Gonzalo Manuelo buys and sells opal and other gemstones.

Mining for opals at Huejelica.

At Huejelica Mine.

Ornelas tells me the region is trying to promote another business venture, as well: tequila tourism.

Magdalena is one of six small towns along what is known as The Tequila Road. The majority of the world's tequila is produced and exported from this area, especially from the town of Tequila about 20 kilometers from Magdalena. Agave cactus, from which tequila is derived, grows throughout the area, including around the mines we visited. Ornelas says that they are trying to publicize food and tequila tours, similar to wine country tours in northern California, and hope that the opals are also a draw. At least one entrepreneur, Javier Lopez Mata of Opalos de Mexico, has begun organizing tours where visitors can sift through the dirt and look for their own opals. It's an ambitious, but promising enterprise. There are over 100 local tequila distilleries, many of which provide tours. The opals are certainly stunning. The local restaurants cook up plenty of rich, spicy tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas, and, as I can personally confirm, some very smooth tequila can be found in this area.

Agave plants growing around Magdalena.

There's no doubt that Mexico's fire opals have distinctive look, and for lack of another word, 'feel' to them. Maybe it's their association with the ancient Aztecs or maybe it's simply the fire inside them that makes them such an apt metaphor for Mexico. As The Tequila Road attracts more U.S. visitors to Jalisco, maybe their opals will become better known and more popular in the U.S. as well.

Opals in the Hotel de los Opalos

Senor Gonzalo Manuelo at his shop in the Hotel de los Opalos

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