Paul Sedawie - Australian Opal Association President 2008
“For in them you shall see the living fire of
ruby, the glorious purple of the amethyst, the sea green of the emerald,
all glittering together in a incredible mixture of light.”
- Written by roman Pliny in the 1st century ad.
Base Body Tone Guide
this is the best kept secret for buying opals on the internet as most internet
sellers give a fairly accurate description of the stones body tone that they
are selling. Some sellers over enhance there stones photo but give a true
rating in the write up. The opal association is marketing a body tone guide
with opal stones and doublets so all buyers and sellers can have a uniform
guide to gauge opal. These will help buyers compare opals between sellers. you
should always buy off a seller who guarantees his product and grading so if you
disagree you can return it.
the base body tone refers to the darkness or lightness of the opal ignoring the
play of colour and brightness of the stone. the base colour can only be
determined by looking down on the top of the stone and ignoring the material on
the back of the stone .only those stones ranking n1 to n4 are considered black
opals. the opal price is determined by body tone, brightness, colour, play of
colour ,size and allowing for faults and imperfections.
Photos Of Opals And Enhancement
it must be remembered that opal reflects light and digital cameras are
not built to capture the amazing patterns and colour changers in opal. A
simple experiment is to place a stone on the floor by the door way with sun
light out side and move the stone back in to the house taking several shots.
you will most likely find that one photo looks amazing as if it has been
enhanced. Most opal sellers use some form of photo shop and increase the
brightness by a minium of 10 %. There is the belief that you loose this amount
of brightness when viewed on different screens. if a seller guarantees his
stock there is no advantage in over enhancing the pictures as he would have to
return too much stock. it seems that new sellers on the internet do not adjust
there photos much so you can get some good bargains in the early stages.
There is a lot of competition in the market place and these sellers usually do
some adjustments to there photos later.
The most common complaint is for blue opals. Most cameras capture the mauve in
the stone which the naked eye can’t see. So if you see a mauve stone remember
its most likely a blue stone. Pastel colours seem to come out true to form.
With Ethiopian opal the red is easy to capture and it will not be as bright in
the hand- always ask for the level of brightness. Some sellers use a flash to
capture the sharpness of the stone- this should always be declared by the seller.
Brightness or fire in the stone
The brightness of a stone is one of the most important factors in a stones
beauty and value.on the australian opal fields you don’t hear the words” fire”
as miners take about how bright a stone is.the term is used a lot on the
internet to describe its brightness.to guage opal brightness evenly over
different stones it is a good idea to have a constant light source ie a 100
watt light 20 inchs above the stones in a area of no sunlight.also have a
set of stones to compare what you are grading.many opal buyers who come to the
opal fields bring there own stones so it is easier to compare stones.if you are
buying at lightning ridge in the motel there is strong sunlight in the morning
so many
sellers try to use this to there advantage.
Harlequin Patterns
this is the most sought after patern in opal due to its rarity and beauty. On
the internet many stones are listed as harlequin as the seller believes this
will increase its value.many of these stones would not be called harlequin on
the opal fields.
The gia classes a harlequin as a broad angular close set of patchs of colour
.orginally rounded or floral shapes were not called harlequin but it is used
quite often now.this means the guide lines are wide open now .in my 20 years
experience of selling thousands of stones i have only had what i consider 3
harlequin stones and yet i have sold stones to internet sellers who have listed
them as harlequin... Never less these stones still have beautiful patterns and
can fetch high prices in there own right.so you have to be carefull and not pay
a premium just because the seller lists it as a harlequin.
Doublet or natural stone?
It is difficult to determine if the opal is bezel set in
jewellery [the side of the stone is covered by gold.] .only by taking it out
can you be certain.
Th a loose stone take a 10 powered loop or magnifying glass to the side
of the stone. As glue dosent polish you will see a gap between the
crystal and backing so you know it’s a doublet.
Inclusion or fracture?
Some times stones have natural inclusions that look like
fractures.the best way to determine it is to hold the stone up to a base
of a lamp shade and roll the stone in your fingers keeping the stone in
the light and not the shaded area.if there is a fracture you will see the light
reflect off the fracture like a chip in your windscreen.
Natural or synthetic stone?
Some synthetic or imitation opal can confuse customers.usually they have no
inclusions or potch backing behind them. The pattern appears to be even through
the stone which is rare except for top gems.if veiwed from the side the line of
colour is at the lower areas.some of these stones have a unnatural look and
fire to them.synthetic opal are used in triplets which are much harder to
spot.generally they are very bright with a regular pattern that look to
constant to be natural.it is best to become familiar with a few man made
opals so it is easy to recognize them.
Andamooka matrix
This is natural white opal matrix found in andamooka south australia.it
has been treated to look like expensive black opal. The treatment is permenant
but if you re shap or cut it you will have to re treat it...some of this
material is called concret which is more porous then the gem matrix..it is hard
to get a good polish on it as it is pores..you can use a resin - liquid
glass or in australia we use hx3 made by
shell - lap- we have had trouble recently getting this..this is a epoxy that
soaks in to the stone and gives a good polish.the colours and fire are
amazing.on the field they call this concret which is a horrible name for such a
beautiful stone..gem matrix which you can get a natural polish on it- that
sells for $10 - 50 per carat while concret sells for $1- 2 per carat
for larger stones..it even great just left in a glass jar as a dazzaling
specimen.
1$NR SALE
this was first started by ebay with great success as it allows the
buyer to determine the price of goods on auction.of course the most enhanced
stones went for the highest prices.
You should be aware of the cost for the seller
on a 1$nr auction who receives payment by paypal[which is owned by ebay.]
. You can check there latest fees by going to www.ebay.com and go to the site
map then click on selling.
To insert a item in a 1$nr auction on ebay .40
to have a gallery photo .35
selling fee 5.25% by say 5% .05
paypal per transation .30
paypal fees 2.5% but say 2% .02
total selling fee $1.12 out of $1.00
Depending on the efficancy of the selling operation there is also the cost to
take photos answer emails ect which varies between $2.00 - $3.50 per item.
That is why some sellers have a high handling/posting fee to help cover these
costs.
rough
opal
buying rough opal is always a bit of a gamble as you cant really see what you
are buying so all the photots wont be much help. You can lessen the
risk if you buy “rubs”. This is piece of rough
that has been rubbed down to the colour bar so you can get some idea of the
stone it will cut.there is still the risk
of inclusions in the stone which may make it smaller than you expect.most sellers on the
internet wet the rubs or rough before hand to show the colours you can expect
when it is polished.always ask for the
thickness of rubs as if it is too thin it wont be strong enough for a ring.any stone around 2 mm
thick is to thin and may even need reinforcing in a pendant.
Mine run usually has some material of lower commercial value but there may
still be some hidden treasures. You shouldn’t expect
to see a good stone in cheap rough as no seller would delibertily leave it
there.some beautiful stones have been found in rough
that looked as if it contained nothing. Black nobbys from
lightning ridge are known for there surprises as even the most experienced
dealers let some stones slip through in there rough.. Nobby rough
untouched should always be viewed as a gamble .
With white opal rough it was a rule of thumb that what you paid per
gram should cut that per carat as a finished stone.
Buying rough from photos is always difficult so you should check the sellers
return policy.if they don’t offer one you should consider
taking your business else where. It is generally
accepted that if you rub , snip or touch the rough it is considered
sold. Most internet sellers want you repeat
business so even if you are not happy with what you have cut you can always ask
for a bonus..
conclusions
it is obvious that when selecting suppliers that you should find opal sellers
that will guarantee there stock and offer refunds if you arent pleased.if you are returning
stock you should always send it by registered mail.many stones on the
internet over over enhanced and the opal association is marketing a body tone
chart guide so sellers and buyers can accurately describe the body tone
of the stone. On the opal field a clean stone with a
n1 background and brightness of 5 will sell very quickly for top
money .if you saw a good opal selling cheap you
should conclude that the stone has been over enhanced and wo0uld not
classified a such. .if you were interested
in purchasing a expensive stone it would pay to purchase a cheaper opal and see
what type of service you receive.
The buyers on the internet have a big influence over the shape of the industry. If they return over
enhanced stones back to sellers they wil be forceing sellers to more accurately
classify there stock so all sellers are on a equal playing field and it will be
easier to compare stock between sellers...
The future is exciting for this industry.this beautiful stone is
now avaliable at competitive prices to buyers who would normally
not have access to it.the gemstone industry
has many levels of dealers but the internet allows you to go direct to the
source. New cameras will more accurately
capture the true colours of opal and there will be video technology that will
allow you to see a stone as if it was in your hand. With some knowledge
there are bargins to be had.good luck with your
bidding.
Paul sedawie- opal association president.
Last Update: May 20, 2008