BaileyC
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2015
- Messages
- 91
Good afternoon all! For those of you in the US, I hope you’re enjoying your day off of work today given tomorrow’s holiday. I know I certainly am!
And what a day off it is…I received two new rings from my friends at FedEx and UPS today, both of which are in violation of my self-ban. I’m still trying to find a way to blame TL’s influential “two is better than one” philosophy for these additional infractions.
I’m now at three rings post-ban under the logical conclusion that three is better than two, and certainly better than one! Zero are better for the wallet, though that ship has sailed!
I also blame Acinom for her parade of drool-worthy gems…how is one supposed to resist that kind of enticement?
In any case, I’m looking for any feedback you all might have on an opal. It’s the first I’ve ever bought in my life, surprisingly, and I have seven days to return it if I want to. So I’m on the clock!
While I tend to prefer the look of black opals, I simply couldn’t resist the unique look of this light crystal opal ring. The ring is from the Art Deco period circa 1920 (I gravitate towards that period apparently) and is set in platinum with approximately 1ct of diamonds. The center opal is estimated at just north of 6cts, is solid, has a much higher dome by far than I’ve seen on other opals, has good translucency, and exhibits a range of brilliant colors in order of prevalence: orange, red, green, yellow, blue, aqua, and violet.
The orange and red is a large bold flash of color that moves along the base of the stone as your turn it around (no tilting), which is quite cool! As you turn it from one side to the other by tilting it, the orange and red pass across the top in a long kind of jagged strand, almost like a lightning bolt. There’s also a moderately sized moving patch of green that moves part way up the dome upon tilting, but breaks off at the highest point and shifts to the orange/red or greens/yellows depending upon which way it’s tilted. As for the rest of the colors, they mainly appear as varying sizes of little dots, that look like bright colored stars or tiny pieces of confetti. To see the blues, aquas and violet I have to move my hand back and forth - they are quite beautiful though not as bright as the other colors.
I absolutely adore the deco setting itself, and the opal cabochon is quite unique from what I’m used to seeing so that really appeals to me. But what about the quality of the stone and colors itself - would this be considered a quality opal? What might an opal stone like this sell for sans the setting? I searched opal auctions and didn’t see a cut anything like this, but perhaps the cut does nothing for the value. I will not be purchasing another light opal, so I want to ensure I have a great specimen of this lovely stone.
I've read up on opals and their quality factors, but translating what I read to what I am seeing is quite hard, which is why I know you all will have words of wisdom to help me. Have I done good stone-wise, or should I keep looking…thoughts?
View of setting & stone overall:
This shows the translucency of the stone a bit, though it's a LOT more translucent than even this picture shows. It's also the tail end of the "lightning bolt" before it disappears:
Shows a bit of the red and orange that rolls along the base of the stone:
Here's where I tried to capture the large flash of green/blue but wasn't all that successful:
These things are HARD to photograph!!!
And what a day off it is…I received two new rings from my friends at FedEx and UPS today, both of which are in violation of my self-ban. I’m still trying to find a way to blame TL’s influential “two is better than one” philosophy for these additional infractions.
I’m now at three rings post-ban under the logical conclusion that three is better than two, and certainly better than one! Zero are better for the wallet, though that ship has sailed!I also blame Acinom for her parade of drool-worthy gems…how is one supposed to resist that kind of enticement?
In any case, I’m looking for any feedback you all might have on an opal. It’s the first I’ve ever bought in my life, surprisingly, and I have seven days to return it if I want to. So I’m on the clock!
While I tend to prefer the look of black opals, I simply couldn’t resist the unique look of this light crystal opal ring. The ring is from the Art Deco period circa 1920 (I gravitate towards that period apparently) and is set in platinum with approximately 1ct of diamonds. The center opal is estimated at just north of 6cts, is solid, has a much higher dome by far than I’ve seen on other opals, has good translucency, and exhibits a range of brilliant colors in order of prevalence: orange, red, green, yellow, blue, aqua, and violet.
The orange and red is a large bold flash of color that moves along the base of the stone as your turn it around (no tilting), which is quite cool! As you turn it from one side to the other by tilting it, the orange and red pass across the top in a long kind of jagged strand, almost like a lightning bolt. There’s also a moderately sized moving patch of green that moves part way up the dome upon tilting, but breaks off at the highest point and shifts to the orange/red or greens/yellows depending upon which way it’s tilted. As for the rest of the colors, they mainly appear as varying sizes of little dots, that look like bright colored stars or tiny pieces of confetti. To see the blues, aquas and violet I have to move my hand back and forth - they are quite beautiful though not as bright as the other colors.
I absolutely adore the deco setting itself, and the opal cabochon is quite unique from what I’m used to seeing so that really appeals to me. But what about the quality of the stone and colors itself - would this be considered a quality opal? What might an opal stone like this sell for sans the setting? I searched opal auctions and didn’t see a cut anything like this, but perhaps the cut does nothing for the value. I will not be purchasing another light opal, so I want to ensure I have a great specimen of this lovely stone.
I've read up on opals and their quality factors, but translating what I read to what I am seeing is quite hard, which is why I know you all will have words of wisdom to help me. Have I done good stone-wise, or should I keep looking…thoughts?
View of setting & stone overall:
This shows the translucency of the stone a bit, though it's a LOT more translucent than even this picture shows. It's also the tail end of the "lightning bolt" before it disappears:
Shows a bit of the red and orange that rolls along the base of the stone:
Here's where I tried to capture the large flash of green/blue but wasn't all that successful:
These things are HARD to photograph!!!
Hopefully, you are careful with your hands. 
I've got just an itty bitty opal but IMO what PieRSquared said is correct about taking pictures. It looks at home on your hand! its a keeper, yes??
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