What do you think of this black opal and a question about opalauctions.com

[lovedogs]

I agree that I much prefer the dark one from Jordy, and that this one looks significantly lighter than I would expect from a black opal. It looks "semi black" to me, but also not an expert.

 

[2Neezers]

Thanks for your help @lovedogs !

I was looking around and found this highlighted info interesting:

I’m wondering if that is the type of opal I have. Could it be a crystal opal with a black opal underside that is at times showing through and making the opal look darker, but most often it looks quite light. I had high hopes for it, but I’m not sure about this stone .

 

[Bron357]

Black opals are tricky. There is a scale for body tone and yours is lower ie lighter and another scale for body color (s) and yet another for pattern..
While the new one is less black, it “technically” has a much better colour play and pattern than the other one.
But it’s all about taste.
The article above is actually referring to “doublets” where a piece of crystal opal is attached to a black (btw it is never “black” moreso a dark grey) piece of potch to create an illusion of what a black opal is. Yours is a solid. It’s a real black opal but one with a lighter body tone (tone ranges from N1 to N5).
A Truly black opal with bright full colour play are like $10,000 plus plus a carat!

 

[pwsg07]

The opal arrived today! It’s pretty, but I was expecting a darker opal and am surprised how close to flesh tone it is. I’m an opal newbie, so maybe it’s supposed to be? It seems more like what I would image a semi black opal to look like.
I’ve attached a bunch of photos and would love your honest opinions. I’m experiencing a power outage right now due to an ice storm, so all of the photos were taken in natural overcast lighting with my back to a window.

For me I prefer the new opal. I don’t really care about having a true black opal. From your photo , the play of colour of the new one is much brighter and it has all every colour in the rainbow. It has more red

 

[2Neezers]

Black opals are tricky. There is a scale for body tone and yours is lower ie lighter and another scale for body color (s) and yet another for pattern..
While the new one is less black, it “technically” has a much better colour play and pattern than the other one.
But it’s all about taste.
The article above is actually referring to “doublets” where a piece of crystal opal is attached to a black (btw it is never “black” moreso a dark grey) piece of potch to create an illusion of what a black opal is. Yours is a solid. It’s a real black opal but one with a lighter body tone (tone ranges from N1 to N5).
A Truly black opal with bright full colour play are like $10,000 plus plus a carat!

Thanks for helping me understand this @Bron357 ! I think because my other black opal is dark, I was expecting this one to be on the darker side as well. It is pretty in person, just different than I had expected. I don’t plan to buy a $10,000 black opal, so this might be the best option for my budget .

 

[2Neezers]

For me I prefer the new opal. I don’t really care about having a true black opal. From your photo , the play of colour of the new one is much brighter and it has all every colour in the rainbow. It has more red

Thanks @pwsg07 ! I’m glad to hear you like the new opal. I haven’t seen many opals in person, so this is a bit of a learning experience for me. I like that it shows every color of the rainbow too

 

[Bron357]

I think your new one is equally beautiful. I think setting it just like your other beautiful ring but in yellow gold with wee yellow sapphires or rose gold with wee pink tourmaline it will look fabulous.
And red is the most highly valued colour in opal btw, it’s rare because of the way colour is created in opals. It’s basically minutes spheres which if small refract the shortest light wave length colour ie blue and green, to get red colour the spheres have have grow large enough undisturbed to refract the longest light wave length, red. And that leads into why multi colour opals are more valuable because they have to have varying size spheres in the one area. Then when you add in a discernable and desirable pattern like say harlequin in a black opal you’re talking ultra rare and $30,000 plus a carat.

 

[2Neezers]

I think your new one is equally beautiful. I think setting it just like your other beautiful ring but in yellow gold with wee yellow sapphires or rose gold with wee pink tourmaline it will look fabulous.
And red is the most highly valued colour in opal btw, it’s rare because of the way colour is created in opals. It’s basically minutes spheres which if small refract the shortest light wave length colour ie blue and green, to get red colour the spheres have have grow large enough undisturbed to refract the longest light wave length, red. And that leads into why multi colour opals are more valuable because they have to have varying size spheres in the one area. Then when you add in a discernable and desirable pattern like say harlequin in a black opal you’re talking ultra rare and $30,000 plus a carat.

That is fascinating info about multi color opals and spheres @Bron357! I’m loving the idea of a CS halo for this stone too. I think it would make all of the colors pop!