r/Opal

Pretty excited to get into dark crystal mintabie! Any tips when cutting this type of opal? I’ve cut a few mintabie, but not a lot.

Hey all, this is some of my collection of opals varying from boulder and black opal these were all mined from Australia by my grandmother.

Looking for someone in Brisbane or Ipswich, Queensland, Australia that could possibly value some of these items or all.

I just went to a gem show yesterday and met up with the Ethiopian dealer I bought from last time. However this time he didn't really have the best stones. I literally had to dig through them for 2 hours just to pick these out. How did I do?

The 2nd pic is a video gif, so it may take a little time to load. I also numbered the stones in the 3rd picture. Any idea of how much these should of cost me per carat? Also if anyone can help identify the flash color patterning on the opals, please feel free to let me know! I'm still extremely new to opals and I'm still learning!

NOTE: Opal #1 has a nick on the right side. I just loved the patterning on it so much that I had to get it!

I bought this watch in Australia 30 years ago and remember it not being super cheap at the time but I don't remember anything else. Would anyone know anything about it?

Hey Guys

I have a black opal LR stone that has recently been cut from rough and it's one of those stones that I really can't stop picking up and looking at. It's a small little thing , 1.20 Carats and on first look it looks like a nice black polished piece of potch.... that is until the light catches it.

I have 3 questions in particular I would like some advice on.

1 - If you were to list this stone for sale how would you describe it in its current state.

2 - Price estimate in current state.

3 - Is there any chance the cut of the stone could be improved in its finish to get the colours popping or do we think it's already at its best?

Really appreciate any feedback and advice on this.

I’m not sure what type of Opal this is and the pawnshop had no history on it.

Hi, I bought this Opal ring in a lot of vintage jewellery. Now I found someone who is interested in the stone and wonder what a fair price would be. Theres a lot going on in the stone and I personally like it, but I know very little about Opals. It does not seem to be a triplet, but there might be some material under the stone as the setting is closed from the underside. The measurements are 16 by 12.5 mm, so I guess its in the 4 ct range. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. Thank you🙂

⚖️ Weight: 19.56 Carats

📏 Dimensions: 20 × 18 × 10.1 mm

🔥 Treatment: Heated

💰 Price: 20$ per carat

Worldwide shipping available with tracking.

PayPal accepted, other methods can be arranged as convenient for the buyer.

7-day return policy available if the stone does not match the description

Bought this at a flea market , and Google says its most likely a Peruvian opal.. it's translucent as well against the sun ..

Or that it could be a gem silica .. really not sure

Purchased at a flea market. I cannot make out the makers mark. Is this a real opal? Also, is this sterling silver? There is not the usual 925 or S or anything. Maybe the makers mark is N E something? Any help is appreciated!! I adore this ring and want to get it sized so I can wear it. Just need any info so I know which jeweler to take it to.

i get asked this all the time
“how thin can i go and still call it a solid?”

after cutting tens of thousands of opals, you develop a feel for what’s ideal vs what’s just acceptable
but putting that into clear words has always been tricky for me

so i finally sat down and put numbers to it

i’ve sold over 130k stones over the years, so i pulled a sample of data on 8,679 solid cut opals and mapped thickness vs size

a few things stood out:

most commercial solid opals end up around 3–5mm thick, regardless of size

the 20–25% rule is real, but it’s a minimum survival line, not where most stones land

the biggest mistakes happen in the 5–15mm range (shortest side), where people push stones too thin

quick takeaways if you’re cutting:

under 10mm → don’t go below ~2mm for rings

under 15mm → don’t go below ~2.5mm for rings

earrings/pendants can go thinner

when in doubt → aim for ~3mm

you can go thinner… but you need a reason, and you have to be very careful cutting the profile to keep the stone stable and settable

this graphic shows where most stones sit, where the outliers are, and where things start getting risky

curious where others land on this, especially setters

Hi. I'm doing a commission and a client brought me this stone to use. I haven't taken it out of the gem case since the day they gave it to me. Is this spot normal? What is it?

Doesn't affect play of fire but it looks odd. I don't remember seeing it when I first saw it or I would have said something to them. Also never seen this before on any of my opals.

Thanks in advance.

TLDR: what is this spot? Doesn't affect play of colour.

Hello,

I purchased these pieces at a Renaissance Festival last year. The gold piece has no hallmarks so I'm assuming there i'snt any real gold. The ring is marked 925. I was assured the metals didn't contain nickle and my allergies, or lack of, seem to confirn that.The jewlery is relatively nice quality. See the back of the necklace. I'm just curious how the stones look. I would think they are likely synthetic but I'm not very knowledgeable on Opals.

I'd like to research these more care wise so i'm just hoping for a general direction as far as where to start.

Weight: 70.4 carats

Type: Smoked Opal Lot

Color: Fiery multi-color play

Treatment: Smoked

Origin: Ethiopia

Dimensions: 16×11×5.5 mm – 20.5×11×5.5 mm

Price: $12 per carat

🌍 Shipping worldwide available

🔄 7 days return policy available

Sorry the phone camera doesn’t like the color saturation and brightness. Been trying to learn more about opals and potentially sell some pieces online but I’m not quite sure how to price opals with the range being so high and there being more variables to consider compared to most stones. Any tips on how I could learn to accurately determine an opals value?

think these are opal in found in a small dig site in Pune,India. I don't know much about them. Can anyone help me?

what do you guys think?