Clarity enhancement in opals?

[CircularBrilliant]

Hi Everyone,

I came across a stunning opal ring on instagram -- the colorplay reminds me of the aurora borealis. Although I should be on ban island, am really too clumsy to be pursuing opals, and hate the whole instagram seller dm-for-price game, I couldn't resist asking about this one. The opal has a GIA report identifying it as a natural gray opal with no color treatment, but noting that it is clarity enhanced. The seller said she doesn't know what manner of enhancement there was applied to the stone. I did a search through the forum and read through some articles I found online, but couldn't find much information about this type of treatment in opals. Does anyone know whether clarity enhancement is usually stable, how it tends to affect value, etc? Thanks!

 

[yssie]

Oil to fill inclusions. Immediate and unhesitating “nope” for me. (But I nope out of oil in emeralds too…)

Edit - GIA says oil and resins which makes sense.

Inclusions in Natural, Treated, Synthetic, and Imitation Opal | Gems & Gemology

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, treated, synthetic, and imitation opal.

www.gia.edu

 

[yssie]

Edit:
Only opals I own are Australian solid opals, and AFAIK oiling them isn’t “normal” or “expected”. But maybe that’s common with other opal types?
Tagging @jordyonbass!

 

[jordyonbass]

Edit:
Only opals I own are Australian solid opals, and AFAIK oiling them isn’t “normal” or “expected”. But maybe that’s common with other opal types?
Tagging @jordyonbass!

That's weird. Clarity enhancement is not something I've heard of with Opal, nor is it something that is really that desirable either (colour play shows better against opaque black/white body tone than against a transparent crystal body tone).

With stuff like Andamooka matrix and Welo there are treatments but they are to turn the stone dark and/or opaque, the opposite of clarity enhancement.

 

[T L]

Maybe it’s fine for stability? To reduce cracking, but I cannot imagine this can be done with hydrophane opal like Ethiopian material.

 

[jordyonbass]

I've followed this up with the Opal-oracle AKA Justin at Black Opal Direct, just to make sure I wasn't missing something here.

He confirmed what I've previously stated, not heard of clarity enhancement and not something he would ever do to an Opal for the exact same reasons.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Oil to fill inclusions. Immediate and unhesitating “nope” for me. (But I nope out of oil in emeralds too…)

Edit - GIA says oil and resins which makes sense.

Inclusions in Natural, Treated, Synthetic, and Imitation Opal | Gems & Gemology

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, treated, synthetic, and imitation opal.

www.gia.edu

Edit:
Only opals I own are Australian solid opals, and AFAIK oiling them isn’t “normal” or “expected”. But maybe that’s common with other opal types?
Tagging @jordyonbass!

Thank you! My gut was leaning towards running away too, but the stone was so pretty that I was holding onto some hope that maybe it wasn't anything to be worried about...

Maybe it’s fine for stability? To reduce cracking, but I cannot imagine this can be done with hydrophane opal like Ethiopian material.

Yeah, I knew I had to watch out for color treatments with opals, but was confused to see a report listing no color treatment but having clarity enhancement.

That's weird. Clarity enhancement is not something I've heard of with Opal, nor is it something that is really that desirable either (colour play shows better against opaque black/white body tone than against a transparent crystal body tone).

With stuff like Andamooka matrix and Welo there are treatments but they are to turn the stone dark and/or opaque, the opposite of clarity enhancement.

I've followed this up with the Opal-oracle AKA Justin at Black Opal Direct, just to make sure I wasn't missing something here.

He confirmed what I've previously stated, not heard of clarity enhancement and not something he would ever do to an Opal for the exact same reasons.

Thank you! I really appreciate you checking into it, and am definitely going to pass on this one.

I'm so glad I decided to post here for opinions -- the PS community is the best!!!

 

[jordyonbass]

Most welcome @CircularBrilliant

Honestly I'm thinking this is probably a vendor who has seen such a clear, transparent crystal Opal and has assumed it has had some kind of treatment to enhance clarity when it's actually untreated.
I would think that anything you do to an Opal to change it's clarity would also affect the colour play detrimentally.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Most welcome @CircularBrilliant

Honestly I'm thinking this is probably a vendor who has seen such a clear, transparent crystal Opal and has assumed it has had some kind of treatment to enhance clarity when it's actually untreated.
I would think that anything you do to an Opal to change it's clarity would also affect the colour play detrimentally.

The GIA report stated that it was clarity enhanced--I wouldn't have even known to ask about that! I wish I knew the backstory for what was done and why.

 

[jordyonbass]

The GIA report stated that it was clarity enhanced--I wouldn't have even known to ask about that! I wish I knew the backstory for what was done and why.

I'd love to know what they were thinking tbh, but then again I've seen GIA call Brown-toned Boulder Opal 'Lightning Ridge Black Opal' as well as send one of a very reputable vendor's Opals back as synthetic

 

[yssie]

send one of a very reputable vendor's Opals back as synthetic

Yikes!! I hope they disputed that!!

 

[jordyonbass]

Yikes!! I hope they disputed that!!

I'm not sure exactly how it went but I remember talking to him about it and just being bewildered. I've spoken with a bunch of Opal vendors and we all agree that while GIA cannot be beaten for diamonds - they're not necessarily that well versed with all gemstone types and Opal seems to be one they have more difficulty with than others

 

[Rfisher]

Hi Everyone,

I came across a stunning opal ring on instagram -- the colorplay reminds me of the aurora borealis. Although I should be on ban island, am really too clumsy to be pursuing opals, and hate the whole instagram seller dm-for-price game, I couldn't resist asking about this one. The opal has a GIA report identifying it as a natural gray opal with no color treatment, but noting that it is clarity enhanced. The seller said she doesn't know what manner of enhancement there was applied to the stone. I did a search through the forum and read through some articles I found online, but couldn't find much information about this type of treatment in opals. Does anyone know whether clarity enhancement is usually stable, how it tends to affect value, etc? Thanks!

Is the price of the ring in fashion jewelry ballpark
Or fine jewelry ballpark?

If it’s in or closer to fashion jewelry $range
Me, myself & Irene would still consider buying it with the ‘clarity enhanced’ status - especially if the size and color play pattern moved me.
Because I’d never wear an expensive and fine opal happily and carefree out of fear. Fashion jewelry beautiful one - you bet!

Out of curiosity- I’d call GIA and ask them to explain further and if they considered the treatment stable or not. I wouldn’t challenge them on their decision via that phone call tho.

 

[jordyonbass]

Is the price of the ring in fashion jewelry ballpark
Or fine jewelry ballpark?

If it’s in or closer to fashion jewelry $range
Me, myself & Irene would still consider buying it with the ‘clarity enhanced’ status - especially if the size and color play pattern moved me.
Because I’d never wear an expensive and fine opal happily and carefree out of fear. Fashion jewelry beautiful one - you bet!

Out of curiosity- I’d call GIA and ask them to explain further. I wouldn’t challenge them on their decision via that phone call tho.

Yes I would also be interested to hear their explanation as well, since enhancing an Opal's clarity is 100% not something myself or any other Opal vendor I know would ever want to do with any of our Opal.

We make doublets by essentially taking an Opal that's translucent and stopping the translucency with a black opaque backing. If you've already got natural potch that the colour play is against then you'd never want to clarity enhance that.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Is the price of the ring in fashion jewelry ballpark
Or fine jewelry ballpark?

If it’s in or closer to fashion jewelry $range
Me, myself & Irene would still consider buying it with the ‘clarity enhanced’ status - especially if the size and color play pattern moved me.
Because I’d never wear an expensive and fine opal happily and carefree out of fear. Fashion jewelry beautiful one - you bet!

Out of curiosity- I’d call GIA and ask them to explain further and if they considered the treatment stable or not. I wouldn’t challenge them on their decision via that phone call tho.

I'd consider it in the fine jewelry ballpark ($6800), so too much for me to take the risk on :-/

 

[Rfisher]

I'd consider it in the fine jewelry ballpark ($6800), so too much for me to take the risk on :-/

Oh heck yeah

 

[fredflintstone]

That's weird. Clarity enhancement is not something I've heard of with Opal, nor is it something that is really that desirable either (colour play shows better against opaque black/white body tone than against a transparent crystal body tone).

With stuff like Andamooka matrix and Welo there are treatments but they are to turn the stone dark and/or opaque, the opposite of clarity enhancement.

Me either. If there is some, it is very, very, very, did I say, very? Rare, rare, rare...

They have tried treatment on Shewa Opals (one of three varieties of Ethiopian Opal) because they are very unstable, many crumble in your hands, with no success.

Welo's are very stable and the ones that do break never make it to setting, Of course, any Opal can craze in a setting, but not a common occurrence, especially with Welo as they are the toughest Opal on the market.

 

[jordyonbass]

I'd consider it in the fine jewelry ballpark ($6800), so too much for me to take the risk on :-/

At that price, I keep thinking that this is most probably a natural and solid Gem Crystal Opal that GIA has really messed up with. I can't help but think that any kind of clarity enhancement attempt on an Opal would destroy the play of colour and devalue the Opal simply because it would affect the silica structure.

If you look at the standard treatments like smoked Welo, cooked Andamooka and doublets/triplet creation - they're all moving the Opal away from translucency. So an Opal that has had clarity enhancement is kind of like someone taking a D flawless and adding inclusions and some brown tones to it (silly analogy but the best I could come up with)

 

[CircularBrilliant]

At that price, I keep thinking that this is most probably a natural and solid Gem Crystal Opal that GIA has really messed up with. I can't help but think that any kind of clarity enhancement attempt on an Opal would destroy the play of colour and devalue the Opal simply because it would affect the silica structure.

If you look at the standard treatments like smoked Welo, cooked Andamooka and doublets/triplet creation - they're all moving the Opal away from translucency. So an Opal that has had clarity enhancement is kind of like someone taking a D flawless and adding inclusions and some brown tones to it (silly analogy but the best I could come up with)

Out of curiosity, is there a lab you think does a good job with opals?

 

[jordyonbass]

Out of curiosity, is there a lab you think does a good job with opals?

I've had this conversation with a lot of fellow Opal vendors and to be honest we're all pretty pessimistic about the options out there as far as gem labs go.

There is one person that is widely regarded for his professional opinion on Opal, he is a gentleman named Anthony Smallwood. Anthony has taught at the GAA here in Australia and is probably THE guy for Opal in the world, however lab certificates are not something he does with GAA as they are a service offered via the GAA partner service, called GSL. Truth be told, I don't know of any vendors who use GSL and I'm not sure how much of Anthony's teachings have made their way to GSL.

Here's a video of Anthony examining a very bloody nice Opal!

 

[CircularBrilliant]

I've had this conversation with a lot of fellow Opal vendors and to be honest we're all pretty pessimistic about the options out there as far as gem labs go.

There is one person that is widely regarded for his professional opinion on Opal, he is a gentleman named Anthony Smallwood. Anthony has taught at the GAA here in Australia and is probably THE guy for Opal in the world, however lab certificates are not something he does with GAA as they are a service offered via the GAA partner service, called GSL. Truth be told, I don't know of any vendors who use GSL and I'm not sure how much of Anthony's teachings have made their way to GSL.

Here's a video of Anthony examining a very bloody nice Opal!

Omg that opal is BEAUTIFUL!

And given that it seems lab reports may not be terribly helpful at all, would your recommendation to be to buy only from certain vendors?

 

[jordyonbass]

Omg that opal is BEAUTIFUL!

And given that it seems lab reports may not be terribly helpful at all, would your recommendation to be to buy only from certain vendors?

Yes, trust factor is a massive thing with Opal and buying from reputable vendors is more important than with diamond since you do have the GIA report to consider. Even for myself as an Opal cutter and vendor it's important to ensure I source my rough from miners who are happy to accept returns and refunds for untouched bags. Sometimes the videos or photos they send don't tell the whole story and not all parcels are necessarily what I expected, no different to buying a piece of jewellery or single loose gem online.
In my experience most Aussie vendors are pretty good, it's actually easier for me to get my hands on solid natural Opal than synthetic if we take the whole cost side out of the equation.

 

[arkieb1]

@jordyonbass - I'm wondering if it's an antique stone someone has filled with something like Opticon to fix/hide cracking and crazing or something. I can't think what else it would be.....

OP - save your money and buy an untreated opal from a trusted vendor.

 

[jordyonbass]

@jordyonbass - I'm wondering if it's an antique stone someone has filled with something like Opticon to fix/hide cracking and crazing or something. I can't think what else it would be.....

OP - save your money and buy an untreated opal from a trusted vendor.

That is one option, but I don't think that would typically be given as clarity enhancement. It may stablize crazing to a degree but I wouldn't think it would hide it.

Lightning Ridge and Andamooka Opal is great, I never have to tear my hair out worrying about this stuff

 

[jordyonbass]

The GIA report stated that it was clarity enhanced--I wouldn't have even known to ask about that! I wish I knew the backstory for what was done and why.

Curiosity is getting the better of me here, I need to find out what has happened here

Is there any chance of a report number I can provide to GIA so I can do some further digging for you?

Another thing confusing me here is the claim it has been clarity enhanced to a Grey Opal or Dark Opal. The only Opal with less clarity than that are Black Opals!

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Curiosity is getting the better of me here, I need to find out what has happened here

Is there any chance of a report number I can provide to GIA so I can do some further digging for you?

Another thing confusing me here is the claim it has been clarity enhanced to a Grey Opal or Dark Opal. The only Opal with less clarity than that are Black Opals!

Haha I love it, and appreciate it! The report no. is 2183934823, and here's a screenshot of the relevant portion:

 

[jordyonbass]

Thanks for that @CircularBrilliant I have followed up with the details to GIA and awaiting their response.
I've discussed this with some of my fellow cutters and their responses have been funny to say the least. These are a few I've had, copied and pasted;

"That's a new one to me mate, could it mean polished?"

"Sum1 needed their morning coffee before writing up that 1"

"Who got the apprentice to do that one?!"

The miner's responses were waaaay too colourful for PS

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Thanks for that @CircularBrilliant I have followed up with the details to GIA and awaiting their response.
I've discussed this with some of my fellow cutters and their responses have been funny to say the least. These are a few I've had, copied and pasted;

"That's a new one to me mate, could it mean polished?"

"Sum1 needed their morning coffee before writing up that 1"

"Who got the apprentice to do that one?!"

The miner's responses were waaaay too colourful for PS

Too funny! Thanks for following up on this -- I'm eager to find out what GIA has to say!

 

[jordyonbass]

So it looks like @arkieb1 was on the money here, this Opal has had fissure and cracks filled with a resin to help stablize the stone and it's crazing. GIA have explained that they label this treatment as clarity enhancement for Opal, which doesn't really do much to help buyers discern exactly what has happened to an Opal. I wouldn't regard filling an Opal with resin to stablize it as a clarity enhancement since it does little to nothing to actually change overall clarity.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

So it looks like @arkieb1 was on the money here, this Opal has had fissure and cracks filled with a resin to help stablize the stone and it's crazing. GIA have explained that they label this treatment as clarity enhancement for Opal, which doesn't really do much to help buyers discern exactly what has happened to an Opal. I wouldn't regard filling an Opal with resin to stablize it as a clarity enhancement since it does little to nothing to actually change overall clarity.

Mystery solved! Is this a common treatment, in your experience?