help my opal losing it's color play

[newtogem]

Hi guys, I bought three ethiopian opal jewelrys set around 6 months ago. one set is a heated black opal. the second one is a crystal clear opal. and the last one is a brown opal. They used to have an amazing play of color. So, I use them alternatively everyday. However, I start noticing that the black opal set and the crystal clear opal lose their play of color. Right now, I barely seen any play of color come out of them. Help me

 

[chrono]

Opals are not treated so I'm guessing your black opal has been smoked, and probably the brown opal too, which makes the POC appear more intense. There is a possibility that your opals are also dyed, which might account for why the POC is fading. POC typically pops and fades depending on the humidity.

 

[Marlow]

This happens sometimes with Welo opal!!!

Uli cut a nice rough for full of colorplay - after a few weeks the stone lost colorplay and looked like "sugar in a glass of water"
The material was untreated ( except cutting ) - Iput it in water but the color play was lost.
In my opinion the vendor should wait ( fire opal vendor do this) a few month whether the opal is o.k.

 

[Redopalflash]

Hi guys, I bought three ethiopian opal jewelrys set around 6 months ago. one set is a heated black opal. the second one is a crystal clear opal. and the last one is a brown opal. They used to have an amazing play of color. So, I use them alternatively everyday. However, I start noticing that the black opal set and the crystal clear opal lose their play of color. Right now, I barely seen any play of color come out of them. Help me

 

[Redopalflash]

I've noticed it also. I wear 5 black opal rings. All are fine except the ones I wear on my right index finger. They lose color. I took one off and put it in n the jewelry box. Then bought a new one and it did the same thing. Took the one out of the jewelry box and the color is back. Strange gem stones. But I love them.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I was at a gem show and met a friend who is a PS recommended appraiser. She told me to skip the Ethiopian opals because they were not "stable." I didn't press her for the particulars but she seemed to believe they would lose their color play.

 

[Bron357]

Ethiopian opals or Welo opals are hydroplane. This means they can absorb water, when that happens they lose their colour play. They will then “dry out” and the colour play return.
They are also much more prone to cracking, again because of their high water content, if they get too dry, they can crack.
Australian opal, especially black opal, is highly valued not only for its beauty but because of all opals it has the lowest water content and thus is much more stable and much less likely to crack.