Agreed. If you paid for natural opal, return itI suspect a man made glass simulant.
They might look for free, but honestly I'd go back to the seller and ask why it was sold as genuine opal.Thanks for the helpful replies. Insofar as it makes a difference, I think it has a little age to it, but I guess this kind of simulant has been round for a long time anyway.
Would my next step be to go back to the seller? I could take it by a jeweller, but it was an inexpensive enough piece that it won't be worth paying for an appraisal. Would they be likely to look for free?
Gotcha. Yeah see my post right after yours (didn't see yours until I posted). At that price it doesn't really matter, but the seller shouldn't have claimed it was natural.It was sold as natural opal, but I didn't pay very much - less than £30 (some opal and silver jewelry goes quite cheap here...) Will see what the seller says. I don't think it was deliberate deception - they sell much more expensive stuff, and I don't think this would be worth the reputational risk...
The seller is either confused or lyingSeller's insisting it is genuine, as they trust their supplier. If I take it past a jeweller (an independent which deals with secondhand and new jewellery) are they likely to be able to confirm what it is, or would I need someone more specialist? Assuming it is glass I'd look at getting the stone replaced anyway, so I wouldn't be wasting their time...