Bought a Welo opal - didn't like it, but...?

[Ninama]

... maybe?

I've always loved opals from afar, but after being captivated (again) by some Gurhan rings a few months ago, I fell into an opal search rabbit hole. I took a plunge and ordered a Welo online and learned quickly how challenging it is to go by photos. When the opal arrived I was somewhat deflated at how glassy/murky it looked compared to it's pictures, but grateful I hadn't spent a fortune. I tucked the stone away and only recently pulled it to take another look at it... and a bunch of photos, too. I started to wonder if a closed setting with blackened metal behind the opal might make it "pop" more. I know it's a cheat and I read somewhere it's an "odious" practice (is it?) and took that to heart. Now I'm not sure that I care.

The stone has really blazing flashes of intense color that seem to pop out of nowhere and then retreat into the depths. Wish I could post a video! I think it could be fun if it was bezel set in very yellow gold... maybe with a low luster finish? I love the rich yellow 22/24k stuff. I've never had a piece of jewelry custom made before!

It's 19 x 16 x 6.7mm -- 10.93 carats

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

I never really gave opal too much thought til I bought one . They are magical. Different in every light. I bought a couple more. Now I'm on the hunt for the perfect opal for exactly what you plan: rich gold bezel!
I think your opal is beautiful and <whoah> what a fantastic size!

 

[Ninama]

Omg, they're hypnotic. I consider the purchase of this one sort of a practice run, but still want to make the best of it. I love the hunt - even it I'm "window" hunting. Hope you find the opal of your dreams!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Knock knock @Bron357 are you home ?

 

[paragon1234]

Welo opals look their best under artificial light, such as LEDs. Most sellers photograph them in the best lighting. In daylight they don't look as good.

 

[Ninama]

Welo opals look their best under artificial light, such as LEDs. Most sellers photograph them in the best lighting. In daylight they don't look as good.

Yep, it was *very* effectively lit in the listing. The set up can be seen reflected in the stone in the seller's seductive 2-minute video (see stills).

The photos I took are actually all natural indoor light on an overcast day. I traipsed all over the house, in and out of sweet spots. Even the teensiest shift of a cloud in the sky, or the opal in the palm of my hand and *poof* - no color. Then it's back, the gone again. I know experienced opal people already know this stuff!

 

[Cerulean]

Wow - I think it’s beautiful! I like that she’s demure!

 

[Ninama]

Wow - I think it’s beautiful! I like that she’s demure!

Demure... that's it! Thank you! I'm hoping to make the best of that characteristic. I also like that her colors display in big, defined areas. It reminds me of macro photos of bird feathers. The red/orange/yellow area sometimes moves like a flame igniting.

 

[Cerulean]

Demure... that's it! Thank you! I'm hoping to make the best of that characteristic. I also like that her colors display in big, defined areas. It reminds me of macro photos of bird feathers. The red/orange/yellow area sometimes moves like a flame igniting.

Really, really gorgeous. I love the colors of Welo opals!

 

[bright&shiny]

She’s so pretty - and I love the sleeping metaphor!

I just went through this - and was surprised when my stone (now named Lily) arrived how calm she was in comparison to the photos and videos I’d seen. My worries we’re quickly gone, though, when I realized how much action was taking place within the stone, and that a backing could help get the best out of her color flashes.

I learned, in general, the closer the light source, the more you see in colors (spectrum and size).

To get the best performance, I decided to close in the back of my crystal welo ring with yellow gold. I tested open, dark, white and yg backs. Because mine is crystal, the black backing changed the look of the stone (the background color of the stone changed a lot and the colors didn’t pop - much to my surprise - whereas the yg made the most of the colors and translucency).

I don’t think my stone is as demure as yours when she’s sleeping, but I agree, capturing the 3-d ness is super hard. I’m determined to get it, though!

What are your plans for your beautiful opal?

 

[Ninama]

What are your plans for your beautiful opal?

She definitely has her moments! I've set her on a variety of metals and colors to see the affect, and it seems a blackened metal back would work best? I don't think I can really get as clear an idea as a jeweler could show me.

I'm 99⅞% sure I want a bold, gold, ancient relic-y looking ring!

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

She definitely has her moments! I've set her on a variety of metals and colors to see the affect, and it seems a blackened metal back would work best? I don't think I can really get as clear an idea as a jeweler could show me.

I'm 99⅞% sure I want a bold, gold, ancient relic-y looking ring!

I LOVE these examples!! So gorgeous!

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

Here's an example I love, with brushed yellow gold:

 

[PrecisionGem]

Put it on a black background, and it will display the colors much better.

 

[Ninama]

Ohmydog, @CHRISTY-DANIELLE... yes! I wouldn't go to primitive - brushed or lightly textured is so yummy. Love perfect rounds, too!

@PrecisionGem - I've been obsessing about a background. I know the stone needs help to turn up the volume, and that yellow and white metal wouldn't really work. Oxidized/blackened metal might do something, but could also give a gray caste to it. I thought about slices of other stones - lapis, malachite, etc, and was placing it on all sorts of colors to see the effect. Everything was pretty dull. Then I got a hold of a concave disc of anodized (or anodized effect) steel. Holy moly. The fuchsia bouncing through the glassy bits creates a beautiful wandering fire glow and doesn't seem to mess up the chunky natural colors.

I've set aside my reservations about "cheating". I might feel sort of bad if I was trying to improve an expensive opal, but this one only cost $200. If a jeweler can safely tuck something like this behind it in a closed setting I think it would be really fun.

This Frankenstein experiment involved clear tape, scrap metal, natural light, and a dissected fidget spinner from Amazon... "It's alive... alive!"

 

[fredflintstone]

Welo opals look their best under artificial light, such as LEDs. Most sellers photograph them in the best lighting. In daylight they don't look as good.

That is a generalization that really is not true.


Just like any other stone there is low commercial quality, commercial quality, high end, and world class. The better the Welo Opal, the more money, the more colors and the brighter they are.


Welo’s look good under most lights, but there is some indoor light that will mute the color play of Welo or any other light body color crystal Opal. The darker the crystal, the more impervious it is to being muted by any common light.



They will also change different colors with different lights. The sunlight brings out the reds in better Welos and the colors can almost be blinding in the sun, but again, it depends on the quality of the Welo.

 

[fredflintstone]

Diffused light will also kill the colors in Opal. Such as a cloudy day.

 

[fredflintstone]

Put it on a black background, and it will display the colors much better.

Yes, it will show the colors truer than on a white background. White backgrounds wash the color out. Not a good representation.

Also, taking pictures of an Opal is not like taking pictures of a normal gem. You need less light to really show of the colors of an Opal. This can be achieved by turning down the light going into your camera lens if your camera has an option to do that. Otherwise, try indirect light, like putting the Opal under a table or something of that nature where the light is still hitting it but not so strongly to wash the stone out to the camera. The camera does not see like a human does. It cannot pick up the colors when light is glaring off the stone. It washes the colors out to the camera's eye. That is why most people pictures of Opals are washed out. Dim the light.

 

[Ninama]

Yes, it will show the colors truer than on a white background. White backgrounds wash the color out. Not a good representation.

Also, taking pictures of an Opal is not like taking pictures of a normal gem. You need less light to really show of the colors of an Opal. This can be achieved by turning down the light going into your camera lens if your camera has an option to do that. Otherwise, try indirect light, like putting the Opal under a table or something of that nature where the light is still hitting it but not so strongly to wash the stone out to the camera. The camera does not see like a human does. It cannot pick up the colors when light is glaring off the stone. It washes the colors out to the camera's eye. That is why most people pictures of Opals are washed out. Dim the light.

I had a chat with a jeweler who expressed the challenges and frustrations of capturing an opal's true appearance. I've taken soooo many photos of this one - indoor, outdoor, sun, shade, fog, clear, stills, videos, artificial light, different backgrounds... omg.

Another thing is that any slight angle change of the stone or the camera can change everything. I'm grateful that Ethiopian opals are available at price points that allow for some experimentation.

It's foggy and drizzly here this morning and the opal definitely fades outdoors (can be momentarily coaxed by tilting). But bring her inside where the light source is a high window and it glows. That fuchsia steel has a really strong effect... I wonder what highly polished copper backing would do?

 

[fredflintstone]

I had a chat with a jeweler who expressed the challenges and frustrations of capturing an opal's true appearance. I've taken soooo many photos of this one - indoor, outdoor, sun, shade, fog, clear, stills, videos, artificial light, different backgrounds... omg.

Another thing is that any slight angle change of the stone or the camera can change everything. I'm grateful that Ethiopian opals are available at price points that allow for some experimentation.

It's foggy and drizzly here this morning and the opal definitely fades outdoors (can be momentarily coaxed by tilting). But bring her inside where the light source is a high window and it glows. That fuchsia steel has a really strong effect... I wonder what highly polished copper backing would do?

View attachment 843141 .

I have photographed 1000's when I was in the industry. I worked for a large wholesale dealer.


Forget about trying to photograph Opal in diffused light. Cloudy, rainy days, or diffused light indoors. Nothing kills the color play of an Opal like diffused light, other than no light.

Please take my advice. Photographing an Opal takes practice. If you use the tips I gave, you will have much better success.

 

[Ninama]

Fortunately the photos are for me - for fun and to show for input on setting ideas . If I were selling the opal (just as an individual, not a business), I think I'd feel compelled to show it in both flattering and not so flattering lighting to hopefully avoid disappointing a buyer.

 

[fredflintstone]

Fortunately the photos are for me - for fun and to show for input on setting ideas . If I were selling the opal (just as an individual, not a business), I think I'd feel compelled to show it in both flattering and not so flattering lighting to hopefully avoid disappointing a buyer.

You'd be surprised how easy it is. If you can or know how to adjust the light intake through the lens of your camera or smart phone, you'd be amazed the pictures you can produce. Worth framing. Just takes a few hours practice. It took me a very long time, but with my advice you can do what took me more than a year to do. I was self-taught. Had no one to teach me.

 

[fredflintstone]

I think I'd feel compelled to show it in both flattering and not so flattering lighting to hopefully avoid disappointing a buyer.

Even though you feel this what you would do, believe me, no one wants to see or buy an Opal with its picture taken in diffused light. Nothing will kill the sale quicker than that, from years of experience. They want to see the potential of the Opal. Not the un-potential. This is akin to see a shiny brand new/used car that is clean, or one that just went down a muddy road. The buyer knows that the car will get muddy,

Opal looks great in 95% of light. If you are selling a Welo Opal at $100.00 or more a carat, they want to see its potential. A seller can always write in their description Opal looks its worse in diffused light and can provide pictures/video upon request. Then if they want diffused light pictures or video, and video really is the only way to see Opal other than in person, give them what they want.

If the Opal is as nice as a seller projects and suggest it is, they will be extremely happy when they have it in hand. Always give and show an accurate description. Never oversale or under sale an Opal or any gemstone.

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

This was a very interesting thread to read. Gorgeous opals. As an Aussie I have grown up surrounded in opals and never appreciated them until recently.
They are everywhere here - in every tourist shop.
I have been told (not sure how much truth there is to it) that Australian opals always look better in Australia. Something about the type of sun, spectrum and light we have here. They perform very well outdoors here but when a friend bought some and took them to the UK they never looked the same.
I have heard the same about Thai sapphires looking different in different hemispheres.
Now I’m wondering about the these opals and hemispheres etc
Super interesting.

 

[fredflintstone]

This was a very interesting thread to read. Gorgeous opals. As an Aussie I have grown up surrounded in opals and never appreciated them until recently.
They are everywhere here - in every tourist shop.
I have been told (not sure how much truth there is to it) that Australian opals always look better in Australia. Something about the type of sun, spectrum and light we have here. They perform very well outdoors here but when a friend bought some and took them to the UK they never looked the same.
I have heard the same about Thai sapphires looking different in different hemispheres.
Now I’m wondering about the these opals and hemispheres etc
Super interesting.

If you were looking at the Opals on a cloudy day, no matter where you live they will look dead. Diffused light kills Opal color play.

On a sunny day they will look fine, but just like all stones they will look better in the sun in the tropics or sub-tropics as the sun is stronger with longer rays of color. So, while an Opal can look great in a temperate climate like the UK, in the tropics it will even be brighter. A lot of Australia is tropical to sub-tropical, so, there you go.

Another reason an Opal can look different outside is the time of year in temperate climate countries. The sun is strongest in summer. So, you can expect brighter color play in the summer than in the winter.

But we don't spend all our time outdoors. It is even more important how an Opal will look indoors and depending on the light source it can look fantastic to disappointing. But in most light Opal will look great.

 

[peacechick]

Ohmydog, @CHRISTY-DANIELLE... yes! I wouldn't go to primitive - brushed or lightly textured is so yummy. Love perfect rounds, too!

@PrecisionGem - I've been obsessing about a background. I know the stone needs help to turn up the volume, and that yellow and white metal wouldn't really work. Oxidized/blackened metal might do something, but could also give a gray caste to it. I thought about slices of other stones - lapis, malachite, etc, and was placing it on all sorts of colors to see the effect. Everything was pretty dull. Then I got a hold of a concave disc of anodized (or anodized effect) steel. Holy moly. The fuchsia bouncing through the glassy bits creates a beautiful wandering fire glow and doesn't seem to mess up the chunky natural colors.

I've set aside my reservations about "cheating". I might feel sort of bad if I was trying to improve an expensive opal, but this one only cost $200. If a jeweler can safely tuck something like this behind it in a closed setting I think it would be really fun.

This Frankenstein experiment involved clear tape, scrap metal, natural light, and a dissected fidget spinner from Amazon... "It's alive... alive!"

It looks lovely how you have rigged it up! I don’t consider it cheating since you are doing it to maximise the enjoyment of the opal for yourself. It is similar to when we ask for foil backing to close up a window in a stone. Of course if you sell it down the road, it would be ethical to make the buyer aware.

 

[Ninama]

It looks lovely how you have rigged it up! I don’t consider it cheating since you are doing it to maximise the enjoyment of the opal for yourself. It is similar to when we ask for foil backing to close up a window in a stone. Of course if you sell it down the road, it would be ethical to make the buyer aware.

Thank you! That's pretty much how I talked myself into it.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

@Ninama I had to tell you that after seeing the results you got, I put my little Welos on foil backing and WOW what a difference!

 

[Ninama]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE - It's fun, right? I'm going to pick up sheets of mylar a foil wrapping paper in a bunch of different colors just to play with.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE - It's fun, right? I'm going to pick up sheets of mylar a foil wrapping paper in a bunch of different colors just to play with.

Ooh fun! Share pics! By the way, further down this rabbit hole...trying to find the perfect opals for some earrings I found some Australian Lightning Ridge doublets...same concept with dark potch adhered to the back. For earrings they are safe I think: