Old private Opals...

[diagem]

I have a few Opals in my collection, i have no knowledge about them what-so-ever...
I know they are at least 40-50 yrs old.
I also know Opals are becoming popular again in some jewelry designs.
Any opinions or info about them are welcomed.

Thanx in advance.

Black Opals:




White Opals:




ETA: dont mind the few Tiger eyes in the mix..., sorry

 

[Mikla]

Those are some beautiful opals! I especially adore the black opals that appear blue to my eye. I think they would be gorgeous if set!

My mother gave me a white opal ring when I turned 18 (so 30 years ago ). I didn't know how to take care of it so at some point I cleaned it with regular jewelry cleaner and ruined it. I still have the ring and your stones reminded me how much I loved that ring. Are you planning to sell some of them? How did you get them? How do you know they are 40-50 years old? Approximately what sizes are they?

 

[JewelFreak]

What wonderful opals! The black ones are SO pretty. What sizes are they? So many things could be made from all of them (I like the tiger eyes too -- I have a tiger eye brooch that I love). More info please!

 

[dk168]

Love the black ones, the larger two will look stunning as pendants or brooches!

DK

 

[diagem]

Those are some beautiful opals! I especially adore the black opals that appear blue to my eye. I think they would be gorgeous if set!

My mother gave me a white opal ring when I turned 18 (so 30 years ago ). I didn't know how to take care of it so at some point I cleaned it with regular jewelry cleaner and ruined it. I still have the ring and your stones reminded me how much I loved that ring. Are you planning to sell some of them? How did you get them? How do you know they are 40-50 years old? Approximately what sizes are they?

1965..., excellent year!! Sorry about your Opal incident, it is always sad when a Gem gets ruined.
Thank you for compliment on the Opals, yes, the blue is kinda striking I must admit.

My main objective is to learn before I decide what to do with them.
They are a part of a family collection which were kept in our family possession for decades. I decided to air hem out a bit and find out more about them. I started posting here about some Gems from the collection here https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/when-did-emerald-prices-get-so-high.193936/ but decided to start a new thread about some of the Gems instead of a thread jack. .

Sizes vary from smaller (1-2 ct) transparent Opals to the larger 5-50cts as in the picure.

 

[pregcurious]

I agree that the black opals would look great as a center stone in a ring, pendant, or brooch.

Some of the round (or even oval), white opals could be made into a very pretty station necklace, using different sizes of opals in bezels. The necklace below is from the trendy Ippolita line, but I think that the design has a classic appeal. You could make a long necklace (36"), which could be doubled over to make a shorter one (18"). You could also make simple matching ring, and earrings.

I would use yellow gold to bring out the fire in the white opals. The base colors look like they might be slightly different colors of off-white, and I don't think that would look good in white gold/platinum.

 

[merlin123]

Wow those are amazing!

 

[chrono]

I would have the black / dark opals professional assessed for quality and condition given that they've been sitting in the vault for umpteen years. They look fine in your pictures so perhaps they have held up better than expected in the very low humidity. Beautiful dark opals, btw. The white opals show some signs of overdrying.

 

[missy]

I would have the black / dark opals professional assessed for quality and condition given that they've been sitting in the vault for umpteen years. They look fine in your pictures so perhaps they have held up better than expected in the very low humidity. Beautiful dark opals, btw. The white opals show some signs of overdrying.

I give my black opal ring (bought in 1972) a drink every 6 months or so by letting it soak in dish of distilled water. This is a whole (solid all the way through) opal though so not sure how care it differs when dealing with a doublet or something else.

Diagem, looking forward to seeing what you do with these opals. Very pretty black opals!

Edit to add pics:
Adding a (not great) picture of my black opal ring...sorry I am a terrible photographer. I find the colors are incredibly difficult to capture on film.

 

[minousbijoux]

DiaGem: I also think you should have someone take a look at your opals to make sure they're okay after having spent time away. They are indeed quite lovely.

As to your ring, Missy, it is magnificent, pure and simple!

 

[LD]

DiaGem - the value in opals is in their body colour, play of colour, unusual patterns etc. Basically anything with red or purple will be top of the hit list! Anything with greens or blues (unless in a pattern such as Harlequin, Rolling Flashes etc) are more the run of the mill opals.

I'm absolutely sure I've not told you anything you don't know but just in case, here's a website that shows examples so you can get a feel for what you have:

http://www.internetopals.com/about/valuing-opals.htm

 

[iLander]

Don't be insulted that I ask this, but you're sure the black opals are solid and not doublets, right? That makes a huge difference in price/value.

Also, the recent large find of Ethiopian opals may have taken some of the steam out of Australian opals. That's what I've heard, I'm not sure. Also the Ethiopians don't seem to have the crazing problems of the Australians, and they're rumored to be not as delicate.

You have a beautiful collection, congratulations!

 

[diagem]

I agree that the black opals would look great as a center stone in a ring, pendant, or brooch.

Some of the round (or even oval), white opals could be made into a very pretty station necklace, using different sizes of opals in bezels. The necklace below is from the trendy Ippolita line, but I think that the design has a classic appeal. You could make a long necklace (36"), which could be doubled over to make a shorter one (18"). You could also make simple matching ring, and earrings.

I would use yellow gold to bring out the fire in the white opals. The base colors look like they might be slightly different colors of off-white, and I don't think that would look good in white gold/platinum.

Initially I had an idea of crafting a station necklace with smaller transparent Opals I have (not in the image above) but my wife let me know officialy she and Opals don't connect.

There goes that idea....

 

[diagem]

I would have the black / dark opals professional assessed for quality and condition given that they've been sitting in the vault for umpteen years. They look fine in your pictures so perhaps they have held up better than expected in the very low humidity. Beautiful dark opals, btw. The white opals show some signs of overdrying.

Thanx Chrono, I appreciate.
So as missy mentioned, soaking Opals in water can help in case of need?
missy, beautiful ring..., I can see why Red dominates the value..., clearly a difference between with red (as in yours) and no red as in mine. The red is missing.

 

[diagem]

DiaGem - the value in opals is in their body colour, play of colour, unusual patterns etc. Basically anything with red or purple will be top of the hit list! Anything with greens or blues (unless in a pattern such as Harlequin, Rolling Flashes etc) are more the run of the mill opals.

I'm absolutely sure I've not told you anything you don't know but just in case, here's a website that shows examples so you can get a feel for what you have:

http://www.internetopals.com/about/valuing-opals.htm

Thank you for the that link LD, greatly appreciated.
Believe it or not, I make it my motto to learn something new every day and you just taught me something. Thank you

 

[diagem]

Don't be insulted that I ask this, but you're sure the black opals are solid and not doublets, right? That makes a huge difference in price/value.

Also, the recent large find of Ethiopian opals may have taken some of the steam out of Australian opals. That's what I've heard, I'm not sure. Also the Ethiopians don't seem to have the crazing problems of the Australians, and they're rumored to be not as delicate.

You have a beautiful collection, congratulations!

No worries iLander, they are not doublets but I do have a large lot of Sapphire doublets in the collection which I wouldn't have any idea what to do with them..., what do you do with such doublets?

 

[diagem]

Another Q I have if it's permissible to ask;

I don't see a lot of pave works with CS melee (like halo's etc...).
Is there a specific reason why Jewelers are not incorporating those as they do Diamonds.
What are some of the prices ranges for med to high quality melee (good color but included) say at the 1-3mm size?
My interest is more towards Ruby, Sapphire & Colombian emeralds (natural no-treatment gems).

Any info is appreciated.

I do know that in the high quality fancy shaped CS (especially in geometric precision cuts) the prices are higher than a comparable Diamond product. What would be the comparable values in melee rounds?

I know it's a wide open Q..., I am looking for "ballpark type range".

Thanx in advance...

 

[diagem]

sorry if I am loading Q's..., I have a long line of them...

I am noticing strong demands for Gem color opaque Ruby's that go for hefty prices.

These in the image are from 0.90cts to 3.00cts in which the colors seems to me as Burma (no reports).



These are two Gem Ruby's (color in the picture dont justify my claim, i know). the 1.2Xct is flawless (i cant see any inclusions) the second one in a 1.5Xct with better color but lightly included.



And here are some baguettes/Caree (0.15cts average). also great material IMO...., it would be a nice idea to recut those to some interesting designs...

 

[chrono]

In terms of judging quality, the more intense and vibrant colours, and the more even they are as they run across the stone, the more valuable the opal is. The fuller the coverage (from side to side) is also considered, as is the hue (red is the most highly prized) and pattern.

Opals should only be cleaned using warm soapy water and stored in individual soft pourches. Although black opals contain water, they are non-porous and should not be soaked in oil or water. The back and forth transition from wet to dry can cause more damage than leaving the opal alone. Normal humidity and exposure to body oils is sufficient to prevent opals from drying out. When too dry, crazing happens, which is surface and internal cracking. These are white or clear lines that you see in damaged opals.

As for your other question about CS melees; I would LOVE to have a halo of coloured stones. A couple reasons why they aren't popular. Part of it is the lack of marketing and awareness. Part of it is the difficulty in sourcing a parcel that matches in size and colour. It is difficult to get 50 melees to match when lined up together in a row. Another reason is that the smaller the size, the more difficult it is to get stones of decent colouration - most tend to be pale or light toned. Part of it is the durability factor so melees tend to be limited to corundum only. I have seen amethyst, tourmaline, chrysoberyl and garnet CS melees though.

Here's a few places that gives ballpark pricing of melees:
www.africagems.com/blue-sapphire-round-gemstones.html
www.multicolour.com/detail/?346971817
www.columbiagemhouse.com/melee.html (I don't think pricing is listed though)
You can also search within those sites for pricing of other types of gemstone melees.

 

[missy]

First of all Yoram-I am so sorry I gave you incorrect info re opal care. I truly thought that was the correct thing to do. And Chrono-thanks so much for that info on opal storage. We were doing it wrong (based on info from so called experts) and I am relieved nothing happened to it these past 41 years. I had been giving it an overnight bath in distilled water every 6 months or so and storing it in my safe. I just took it out of the safe and put it in a plastic bag sealed with a paper towel soaked in distilled water and put it back in the safe. Hopefully that will keep it well hydrated and safe. I don't wear it often so not enough exposure to body oils and it is very dry this time of year so I don't feel comfortable doing nothing re it's storage.

Thanks for the compliments on my ring minou and Yoram. This ring has sentimental meaning to me. It really is impossible to capture the life and colors of this opal with pictures (as I suspect is the case with many opals).

I think doing a halo of colored stones would be stunning. And I love rubies-cannot wait to see what you do with them!

 

[pregcurious]

Oh, there are so many things you could do with these. Because they are slightly different sizes and shapes, I would bezel them to make it look deliberate and modern.

I would make something like this bubble bracelet, but with rectangles. Earrings and a necklace would like amazing!!!

The ovals in your second picture would make really pretty rings in a simple white diamond halo, or a three stone with white diamond sides.

 

[chrono]

Missy,
I've read so many conflicting information on opal care where one opal vendor's advice seemed to contradict another opal vendor's advice that it is understable to be confused. For storage, putting your opal into a sealed plastic bag with a moist cotton pad is a good idea to keep the humidity level up.

 

[diagem]

In terms of judging quality, the more intense and vibrant colours, and the more even they are as they run across the stone, the more valuable the opal is. The fuller the coverage (from side to side) is also considered, as is the hue (red is the most highly prized) and pattern.

Opals should only be cleaned using warm soapy water and stored in individual soft pourches. Although black opals contain water, they are non-porous and should not be soaked in oil or water. The back and forth transition from wet to dry can cause more damage than leaving the opal alone. Normal humidity and exposure to body oils is sufficient to prevent opals from drying out. When too dry, crazing happens, which is surface and internal cracking. These are white or clear lines that you see in damaged opals.

As for your other question about CS melees; I would LOVE to have a halo of coloured stones. A couple reasons why they aren't popular. Part of it is the lack of marketing and awareness. Part of it is the difficulty in sourcing a parcel that matches in size and colour. It is difficult to get 50 melees to match when lined up together in a row. Another reason is that the smaller the size, the more difficult it is to get stones of decent colouration - most tend to be pale or light toned. Part of it is the durability factor so melees tend to be limited to corundum only. I have seen amethyst, tourmaline, chrysoberyl and garnet CS melees though.

Here's a few places that gives ballpark pricing of melees:
www.africagems.com/blue-sapphire-round-gemstones.html
www.multicolour.com/detail/?346971817
www.columbiagemhouse.com/melee.html (I don't think pricing is listed though)
You can also search within those sites for pricing of other types of gemstone melees.

Thanx for this valuable info Chrono...
Extremely helpful, actualy I am kinda shocked over the prices I am seeing...
I understand most CS melee (all shapes) are basically treated material..., acceptable but yet treated.
I must make some random tests on my melee, I would be surprised if they show heated...
Are these Companies aimed at consumers as well? Or perhaps just?

 

[LD]

Could I just add something about keeping Opals nice? If they're mounted in a ring, wearing the ring for a few days a year is usually enough for the opal to re-moisturise itself. There is absolutely no need to keep them anywhere near water - and your tale DiaGem bears this out because presumably your Opals must feel like they've been in the desert for quite a long time and I can't see any cracks in them!

 

[missy]

Thanks Chrono and LD. I appreciate the information.