I bought some very high quality ethiopian and cabbed some beautiful pieces, but didn't know much about them. After cutting I told a friend I'd give her one of my opals (one that lost most color and didnt seem to be of much value). After a couple weeks the opal dried and regained it's color. It was one of the most incredible opals I've seen in person. My friend was convinced it was Australian. No dead spots, flashes of red, green, yellow, blue, aqua, with color visible in all settings of light. And I just gave it away for free :(
I give away Opals all the time! One of my favorite things to share, but I'm one of those gifting types. Seriously fills my cup enough to keep me off of psych meds, not just giving away Opals but gifting in general, acts of service, etc.
you could use something like a "HENDI Smoke infuser" that they use to smoke food, it produces a lot more smoke that you could blow directly on the opal.
Honest to Buddha I have learned so much about Opals from you and your videos. I didn’t take me long to fall in love with opals and I love watching you cutting them. Thank you❤️
The color comes back when it dries. It has a tube like structure that the water fills. Can take some time to dry but in a few hrs to a day the color comes back. It also becomes more white when you cut and work them. Yes they do crack fairly easy when working them. But are beautiful and very affordable for a small home base business like myself.
Me too! Once or twice a year I like to splurge on a parcel between 3 & 5 hundred dollars worth of Australian, but it's been rare that I get a very good deal for that price point, usually gamble rough that's meant for practice for beginners. (Danny if you see this I'm not talking about you, you're my favorite, and if I could go through you every time, I would!) Anyway... I'm no beginner, but I do so love all the benefits involved with even lower quality Australian opal, compared to Ethiopian. However, I definitely see a few silver linings involved with my necessity to use Ethiopian as a default in my business, including the fact that I can make freeform carvings, and see full color all the way across the entire surface of a fairly large finished piece. This isn't always the case, and of course there are devastating blows here and there when I'm very satisfied with how a work in progress is going, as the form and structure is just so flowy and beautiful, and then just as I'm starting pre-polishing steps, Bam! 😐 -it splits in two or three, (or more). But over time, I've managed to find certain ways to work the stone that mitigate the odds of that devastation via my own particular handling of the stone, assuming of course that the material is good quality to begin with and was treated well before it got to me ...
I am sure your intention was not to deceive but you left us with the impression that once wet Welo opal goes clear and stays clear when actually in a day or two it returns to its original look before wetting. Also washing your hands is typically not long enough to affect the opal although I make sure I wipe the opal dry after washing hands.
Try setting it in a bowl full of “backflow incense burner” smoke? The smoke is separated from it’s heat so it sinks, being denser than air. I imagine it would be better for marinating a stone. 👍
I would love to see you slice the smoked one. Your channel have made me fall in love with opals (only Australian though), keep the videos coming mate!!!
i bought one that turned completely clear the first time i washed my hands, later on i put some body lotion without realizing i was wearing the ring and half of it turned milky with no play of colour at all and opaque, so I bought an opal from justin and forgot the first one ( luckily it was not expensive but very disappointing)
@@blackopaldirect thanks to that happened i discovered your channel and your website, so it's all well if it's well in the end (dunno if i translated this correctly hahaahahah)
Ethiopian opal is beautiful and after absorbing water the color does comes back. I have all types of opals and other stones some treated, heated, irradiated, etc. If the treatment is permanent I have no issue with it as long as it is disclosed. You have a right to choose not to work with the Ethiopian stone however they are beautiful and rarer than it's Australian counterparts. It's not an inferior stone, just different. It almost sounds like the lab-grown vs earth-mined diamond argument. They are both diamonds/opals.
I'm picturing shards of quartz rocketing across the room, you diving for cover with a rock chip embedded in your forehead. I'm really sorry, but my mental picture is hilarious. :)
Thank you for saving my Ethiopian opals in the nick of time. I thought I could wear them swimming and showering. You are very helpful, kind and concise.
I've seen people treat opal in warm sugar water for 24 hours then in weak sulfuric acid for the following 24 hours right after. the sugar water gets into the capilaries of the opal, and then the acid turns it dark.
Just make sure it's not concentraited sulfuric acid for lab use as you'll have a problem when you put water into it as it'll react ... household cleaner style sulf. acid should be fine as long as it's got no adatives and is just weak acid only.
@@DaftFader I remember spilling a load of conc sulphuric on my lab coat at University, and it smoked like a mother! I couldn't get that thing off fast enough.
I've seen videos on people treating opal with some concoction with a sugar base thats heat treated over a period of time, then concentrated sulfuric acid is added and is treated again. It really does bring out amazing color even in lackluster opal. Not sure how well it would work with welo opal as you demonstrated the color fades when soaked in water. Seems like matrix opal and wood opal from other regions are treated this way quite often.
I would be interested to see the smoked opal cut into a stone. The color appears to still be present. Might look nice without all the blackened potch/sand surrounding it
I have a lot of smoked Welo and they are still gorgeous! They retain their color play and actually are more stable in color. 90% of the welo beads and cut stones I got have turned an unfortunate yellowish brown and are ruined. They were stored properly and only took maybe a year for it to happen. Stranger still, other beads and stones right along side them are still as white or clear as when I got them. I don't know why or how to predict which will turn, so it's too risky to even think of ever purchasing more. If for some reason I did, I would only get the smoked black, because all of those I have still look the exact same as they did the day I got them. I'm going to try to turn the bad ones black. I can't make them worse than they are now, that's for sure!
I had some cracked and totally dehydrated Mexican Opal that I experimented with. I was told to use a brown paper bag from the supermarket to smoke the Opal in. Since these stones were already polished and then had gone completely dry and were beautiful but worthless, I gave it a go. They came out perfectly black with bright color. They were almost chalky in texture and would "bite" on the tongue test before and after the smoking. The same sort of material can be found in Southern California at Nowak Opal mine in the Mojave desert although some is cuttable and stable. In the Mexican from Queretaro which is in a red Rhyolite, the So. Cal, which is in the vugs in a Basaltic lava flow and the Opal up by Gerlach Nevada which also comes from the vugs in a basaltic lava, the Opal has a high water content and should be put in a bottle of water immediately, and left there. In my experience very little is stable over a long period of time. As far as I know there is no way to stabilize this chalky material and make it usable in jewelry. I had my dest luck with Spencer Idaho Opal that comes from a black rhyolite. To me it feels slightly softer than the better Australian material, but takes a great polish and has lots of color although usually in thin layers so making a doublet or triplet is the best way to handle it. In it's natural state it varies from pure white to clear layers and some in the pink range. I have seen fire layers over a 1/4" thick that cut very nice solid stones that are perfectly stable. I have not tried smoking Spencer Opal, but due to it's lack of porosity, I wouldn't think the smoke would penetrate far into the stone and would likely wear off in time.
There are currently two mines in Ethiopia, near Welo province, but not at the proper mine that produces most of the welo opal, and the Lion's share of Ethiopian opal in general; ...anyway; -there are two separate mines just outside of welo, one of them is called the stayish mine, and the name of the other mine escapes me at the moment, but both of those locations produce (more one than the other); A) : dark brown "chocolate" opals, (these are generally encapsulated in very hard to get through clay to dark rust colored stone, other than the part that's broken open to show color. And geez, almost as unstable/ tragically precarious of a material as I've ever tested my patience to work with, second only to the extremely limited quantity of Black based nonhydrophane opal that readily comes out of the other one of those aforementioned mines
I have seen some videos where they soak the stone in sugar water and then follow that with sulfuric acid. Basically, the sugar reacts chemically within the sulfuric acid, and releases carbon into the stone. Seems to me that the sugar method would be more efficient than the smoke method. A higher percentage of carbon can be put into the stone in a shorter period of time.
As it dries, yes. It absorbs water, and then it dries out. It takes a week, usually, to get back to a neutral state. You will see if slowly change back over that time. So long as you are cutting it just with water, the stone will not be harmed.
I don't think you need to get defensive about ethiopian opal - aussie opal is gorgeous, and so is the best african opal. I've seen aussie opal that was unstable and cracked, and cut aussie opal is a little more mechanically brittle than cut ethiopian (according to published comparisons). If customers know their opals are hydrophane they won't be upset when they get them wet (its a transient change anyway). Smoking opals is terrible I admit, but its easily detected and no-one could mistake a smoked one for a genuine aussie black one. The real risk to buyers is buying rough ethipian to cut - it almost always cracks during cutting in my experience. I don't pay extra for large size rough since I know I'm going to end up with smaller pieces (I only pay for color and pattern quality).
You can see the crazing in the stones. Simply use a light, look for any crazing, and where it exists, decide if you can make a stone out of it depending on where the cracks are. If it is craze-free, you will be good to go . . . so long as you do not subject it to too much heat.
@@michaeldenison7339 You can see existing cracks for sure. The issue is when the stone is wet for cutting new cracks appear and old ones propagate further through the stone. The best advice I'd had for this is to rub out the stone as quickly as possible. But that's a risk as well.
You could use a neutral wood with a small cold smoker, which is basically just a smoke box with a pipe attached to it that transfers the smoke to another box so it doesn't get any of the stress fractures from the heat.
I just bought one and smoked it last night. I followed your example in this video. The opal I got was a cabochon with a high dome and a honeycomb pattern. The auction pictures and video made it look mainly blue with orange and yellow and green flashes. It was almost clear when it arrived but it did have very nice flashes of colour in the sunlight. I don't think anyone would have guessed it was an Opal unless they were familiar with that type of stone. Anyway, I was curious and wanted to try smoking it as I had already seen this video of yours. It worked, but it turned out a dark brown. I have yet to see a dark brown or any brown Australian opal. I will say this, when you hit it with a light now, it's all deep red and emerald green flashes inside it. It is really beautiful in the moments that it's flashing. I have submerged it in soapy water this morning but it didn't change colour at all. I was expecting the smoke to come back out of it and I expected it to turn clear. It didn't do any of that.
Some Ethiopian opal will take treatment and some won't. How to tell which ones will is a good question and maybe some else who knows more about them could chime in a do tell
When you add smoke to a piece of pottery,we use organic material like hay and you put a lid on top to keep the smoke in contact w the piece,might work w opal..
Have you tried doing this with a kitchen sized smoke infuser? Might get the same effect without risk of too much heat from the direct flame from the paper.
I watched a video of someone who treated an Ethiopian opal by soaking it overnight in sugar water which I guess pulls the sugar inside the opal. And then they put it in the oven at around 500° and the sugar that went inside the opal blackened and charred.
There are handheld smoking devices used in cooking that you could use, it’s basically just a small vacuum with a bowl for sawdust and you just lite it and it goes.
If I were smoking it I would put it in a Masson jar light my paper then blow it out for the smoke then put a lid on it and let it smoke for a long time
I was thinking something like that as well. Showed my science kids how to create a vacuum strong enough to suck a hard boiled egg into a bottle, and the smoke stayed suspended in there a good long time.
I've been watching your videos for a good while now and hate to say it but I just subscribed upon watching the last one , not this one but the last one prior to this one . Dude , you're the kinda guy I'd like to sit down and enjoy a pint with ....I bet you have some stories ! I'm from North Carolina in the USA and live close to the grandfather mountain range in a area that once produced gold . Opal's really interest me and the way they are formed in more so . I saw you do the happy dance once and lmao to it and then I realized with the find you had worked out in hand I would have too .....Love your channel !
another great vid Justin; I dont know how I missed this, but I wish I had watched this before buying hydrophane rough people say if they get wet with water that they should get their color back - but I dont know if I believe that anymore. Also the volatility is REAL! - I dont think I'm ever going to sell ethiopian opal stones b/c of these concerns, but perhaps I'll experiment with epoxy to stop the inevitable cracking and crazing! God I love australian opals...
@@blackopaldirect so your calligraphy or scrimshaw inks did not go into the stone is what you're saying like what we use and sell to people who do scrimshaw on bone Stone and some synthetic materials?
Put opal in sugar water at 170 degrees for 3-5 days. Dry off liquid but do not wash. Then put in an acid resistant container inside another container with sulfuric acid in it . Cover the large bowl then heat to 170 degrees for 3-5 days. Results vary with opal quality.
Hmm atleast now i know Y when i buy Ethiopian opal its already been treated to black (not sure how) but looks good but compared to my ausie opal not that good. Depends on the piece i guess ..untreated shewa opals lovely. Treated Andamooka opal is my favourite
I am a new sub, thank you so much for sharing, I'm learning heaps and enjoying the time spent watching. I missed the last live stream, I have notifications on I hope I don't miss any more. Have a great day everyone Peace
Hum... purely random thought. BUT what about taking some coloured resin, putting the opal into a pressure chamber while submerged in the resin and using the vacuum to pull the resin into it ? I now that some places did the same with rubies.
Also when Ethiopian opal is being cut on a wet wheel the opal gets wet and when drying the opal that was just cut will begin to crack everywhere. That is why when a etheopen opal is being cut it is such a large stone that will need to be recut to try to get these cracks out. If a person is lucky that person can cut the cracks out they might have a etheopen opal that was cut many time's to get the cracks out after it's dried through many wet and drying time's. Most etheopen opals do not come to pass because of this cracking and recuting prosses. I'd take Australian opal over Ethiopian opal any day.
@@makkyd123 the one fact that I can say without a doubt is that Australian opal will not crack due to getting wet and then drying. It doesn't matter witch field or part of Australia it comes from it will not crack due to drying. I did one time buy etheopen wello opal for a short time to educate myself. I bought the white etheopen wello opal because it looked so much like Australian opal but when I got it in the mail it to was crazed and that ended it for me that was the education I was looking for. I bought it because if a person is going to buy and sell Australian opal they should know what etheopen opal looks like. I now know how to identify both. Since then I've had people try to pass etheopen opal off as Australian opal and they get blocked for doing so. Etheopen opal is cheap and to me not worth getting taken from someone that would pass it off as Australian opal. Australian opal costs a lot more for good quality and etheopen opal to me is not a investment gem. But each to their own.
I wonder if the paper having ink in it is important. Could be making it not come out as a clean color. Id cover it in kindling like a proper clean white oak or something that burns clean and then cover it and let is settle.
The worst is that oils and perfumes will penetrate it. It is cheap, which I can afford to work with. But it does have its drawbacks. I would love to work with some Australian opal. But it is out of my price range. I could try with stones that are low quality, if for nothing, just the experience.
Maybe this has already been said, but something like a candle in a jar might work where you light it, put the opal in next to it, and then seal the jar so that all the smoke will be trapped when the candle goes out
How's the main body color on it now, at 8 months later? Have you found it's discolored at all? It is beautiful, no denying that, I've just found it to be so temperamental in changing unwanted colors like from white/clear to yellowish brown. I truly hope yours is still like the day you got it! If it is, beware of lotions, perfumes, etc. it will soak it all up like a sponge and unlike the water, it won't return to original if it "dries" out.
@@anitataco6488 I haven't had any problems with it. I do have to be careful, since it does go clear in water if left for too long, but since I don't use perfumes or lotions I don't have to worry about that. Even when it goes clear it always dries out and goes back to white. No cracks either.
@@evanalian Yay! I'm so happy to hear that! It's so disappointing to find them discolored. It sounds like you're the perfect person to be able to keep one looking nice! Mine were in storage cases, not exposed to anything at all and 90% went a really unfortunate shade of yellowy brown within a year of storing. I was in a bout of depression and had no will to create and when it finally lifted, I was shocked to find my beautiful stockpile ruined. Thousands of beads and cut stones. Pure devastation. I just wonder what they do or don't do to the ones that stayed true to original. I can't tell a difference between which will discolor and which won't. I'm going to see if I can smoke them black. I can't make them any worse, that's for sure.
Get a covered insence burner the kind that has small holes on the sides not top. Make a tight bunch of sage set it and open inside plug openings with clay leaving only one or two holes light sage blow out fire cover with top. Reducing number of holes will build up more smoke. Might have play with it until you get the right amount. Or put them in a meat smoker.
Is hydrophane the same as ethiopian? I have hydrophane, and its yellow with play of color dry, and pretty much the same wet except it does clear up a bit but clear yellow. But i just ordered 200 worth of ethiopian rough. Ill let ya know what i think.
i'm still on the fence about whether or not i want to treat mine with opticon. I will lose money in the short run, but my customers will get a stone that won't yellow over time, especially in a tobacco household etc. decisions decisions
Wife says “Thank you very much for this information..” 🥰 I say I love your shows especially when the ladies come out to say hello. And your are 🤪. I know because I am too.
@@blackopaldirect If I had a piece of white Ethiopian opal I would try it. I am not a big fan of the stuff. Very pretty much of the time but way too unstable for me. If it works I would suggest opticon soaking for weeks.
I have alot of Ethiopian opal...i put some of them in a little water ,because that is what I was supposed to do.wow...talk about a panic attack when I checked them about an hour later...left them out for several days and the color came back...won't do THAT again...live and learn
Yes it does in Ethiopian opal. Andamooka matrix opal is worth more as there are not many colors shown before it’s treated. But anything treated in opal is not worth much
@@blackopaldirect I was hoping i could pvt message you and ask for your expertise, i am looking to purchase an opal, and wanted to know in your opinion if it is worth it, is there somewhere i could message you?
Ethiopian opal is definitely beautiful, but the weakness to water is a big drawback. I wonder if it will happen if worn in humid areas as well, just from exposure to the air.
covering it with a bowl would trap the smoke, perhaps use wood chips and have the opal away from the heat. I don't know just spitballing here, never tried this at all.
It's hydrophane opal. Containing lot of water I wonder if it can explode when heated. I cook and burn fairy opals and they are dangerous if not totally dried. I've only cut some Welo opal in the past but never knew how color change by the end of the process :) It is always a surprise. Better stick with Ridge material.
From what I understand, that white one that soaked up the water and turned clear, will dry out after a few days and return to the original color splash it had before soaking it ;-)
Is there a way to make the opal look transparent permanently? I recently got a ring with a white opal and i found out i like it much better when it gets transparent 😅 i had no idea they did that!
I spoke to a cutter in America and told me its where they mine Ephiopian opal depends if it cracks easy and of course its natural colour and hardness.ive got heaps of it and got the crappy gems and of course the high quality.im letting you know they have found another mine site with even better quality.just saying you can get really good opal from there
Hello Opal Direct, I heard that hydrophane opals needs a special treatment. I was looking for answers because I have the same situation, I found that when the opal looses its transparency it’s submerged in water to gain its water content again and it needs to be sealed after that so it don’t loose its water again. The procedure it’s simple, it’s done with some kind of wax. That way the opal don’t looses its water anymore. Do you think it’s a good idea?
I tried smoking opal but it wouldnt fit in my bong
😆😆
Good problem to have, i suppose
😂😂
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🤣
Small bong , or big opal ?
Justin: "I'm going to try smoking this opal"
Me: "Well... he is more of an opal addict than I am it seems."
hahahaha
Again lmao
Hello from a mimosa bc up on van cou ver bc
Yesvancouverisland
🤣
I have to say that I really enjoy when you go all mad scientist on opals to see what happens. Best wishes to you and yours as always mate!
I bought some very high quality ethiopian and cabbed some beautiful pieces, but didn't know much about them. After cutting I told a friend I'd give her one of my opals (one that lost most color and didnt seem to be of much value). After a couple weeks the opal dried and regained it's color. It was one of the most incredible opals I've seen in person. My friend was convinced it was Australian. No dead spots, flashes of red, green, yellow, blue, aqua, with color visible in all settings of light. And I just gave it away for free :(
def was not Australian
@@blackopaldirect I know, but it looked very similar
I give away Opals all the time! One of my favorite things to share, but I'm one of those gifting types. Seriously fills my cup enough to keep me off of psych meds, not just giving away Opals but gifting in general, acts of service, etc.
you could use something like a "HENDI Smoke infuser" that they use to smoke food, it produces a lot more smoke that you could blow directly on the opal.
Honest to Buddha I have learned so much about Opals from you and your videos. I didn’t take me long to fall in love with opals and I love watching you cutting them. Thank you❤️
The color comes back when it dries. It has a tube like structure that the water fills. Can take some time to dry but in a few hrs to a day the color comes back. It also becomes more white when you cut and work them. Yes they do crack fairly easy when working them. But are beautiful and very affordable for a small home base business like myself.
Me too! Once or twice a year I like to splurge on a parcel between 3 & 5 hundred dollars worth of Australian, but it's been rare that I get a very good deal for that price point, usually gamble rough that's meant for practice for beginners. (Danny if you see this I'm not talking about you, you're my favorite, and if I could go through you every time, I would!)
Anyway... I'm no beginner, but I do so love all the benefits involved with even lower quality Australian opal, compared to Ethiopian. However, I definitely see a few silver linings involved with my necessity to use Ethiopian as a default in my business, including the fact that I can make freeform carvings, and see full color all the way across the entire surface of a fairly large finished piece. This isn't always the case, and of course there are devastating blows here and there when I'm very satisfied with how a work in progress is going, as the form and structure is just so flowy and beautiful, and then just as I'm starting pre-polishing steps, Bam! 😐 -it splits in two or three, (or more). But over time, I've managed to find certain ways to work the stone that mitigate the odds of that devastation via my own particular handling of the stone, assuming of course that the material is good quality to begin with and was treated well before it got to me ...
I am sure your intention was not to deceive but you left us with the impression that once wet Welo opal goes clear and stays clear when actually in a day or two it returns to its original look before wetting. Also washing your hands is typically not long enough to affect the opal although I make sure I wipe the opal dry after washing hands.
Try setting it in a bowl full of “backflow incense burner” smoke? The smoke is separated from it’s heat so it sinks, being denser than air. I imagine it would be better for marinating a stone. 👍
Have you tried this
@@user-cv7cw5xz7i how does one go about doing that
I would love to see you slice the smoked one.
Your channel have made me fall in love with opals (only Australian though), keep the videos coming mate!!!
Bother old method is to boil in sugar water,sounds crazy but it will bring out the flashes. Ethiopian opal is also extremely fragile.
i bought one that turned completely clear the first time i washed my hands, later on i put some body lotion without realizing i was wearing the ring and half of it turned milky with no play of colour at all and opaque, so I bought an opal from justin and forgot the first one ( luckily it was not expensive but very disappointing)
Yes it can happen. I’m sorry it happened to you
@@blackopaldirect thanks to that happened i discovered your channel and your website, so it's all well if it's well in the end (dunno if i translated this correctly hahaahahah)
@@Drusille Close enough to be understood!
Ethiopian opal is beautiful and after absorbing water the color does comes back. I have all types of opals and other stones some treated, heated, irradiated, etc. If the treatment is permanent I have no issue with it as long as it is disclosed. You have a right to choose not to work with the Ethiopian stone however they are beautiful and rarer than it's Australian counterparts. It's not an inferior stone, just different. It almost sounds like the lab-grown vs earth-mined diamond argument. They are both diamonds/opals.
I tried a Propane Torch on a piece of quartz once..... keyword, Once. Lol. Thank you OPAL DIRECT! From a humble rockhound in Oregon
I'm picturing shards of quartz rocketing across the room, you diving for cover with a rock chip embedded in your forehead. I'm really sorry, but my mental picture is hilarious. :)
Victoria Meredith been watching too many movies 😆😆
Thank you for saving my Ethiopian opals in the nick of time. I thought I could wear them swimming and showering.
You are very helpful, kind and concise.
I've seen people treat opal in warm sugar water for 24 hours then in weak sulfuric acid for the following 24 hours right after. the sugar water gets into the capilaries of the opal, and then the acid turns it dark.
Just make sure it's not concentraited sulfuric acid for lab use as you'll have a problem when you put water into it as it'll react ... household cleaner style sulf. acid should be fine as long as it's got no adatives and is just weak acid only.
Yes that is Andamooka matrix opal. A very different and one expensive type of treated opal
Black Opal Direct "Johnny was a chemist, now Johnny is no more, what he thought was H2O was H2SO4!"
I've seen carnelian treated this way or something similiar
@@DaftFader I remember spilling a load of conc sulphuric on my lab coat at University, and it smoked like a mother! I couldn't get that thing off fast enough.
I've seen videos on people treating opal with some concoction with a sugar base thats heat treated over a period of time, then concentrated sulfuric acid is added and is treated again. It really does bring out amazing color even in lackluster opal. Not sure how well it would work with welo opal as you demonstrated the color fades when soaked in water. Seems like matrix opal and wood opal from other regions are treated this way quite often.
I would be interested to see the smoked opal cut into a stone. The color appears to still be present. Might look nice without all the blackened potch/sand surrounding it
normally ethiopian opals are smoked after they are cut.
I have a lot of smoked Welo and they are still gorgeous! They retain their color play and actually are more stable in color. 90% of the welo beads and cut stones I got have turned an unfortunate yellowish brown and are ruined. They were stored properly and only took maybe a year for it to happen. Stranger still, other beads and stones right along side them are still as white or clear as when I got them. I don't know why or how to predict which will turn, so it's too risky to even think of ever purchasing more. If for some reason I did, I would only get the smoked black, because all of those I have still look the exact same as they did the day I got them.
I'm going to try to turn the bad ones black. I can't make them worse than they are now, that's for sure!
@@anitataco6488 is it safe or risky to smoke treat it by our own self? I also want to apply this on my opal but I'm scared of cracking it
“We’re gonna try and smoke an opal”
My mind: *you holding a huge opal cigarette*
I could have sworn he was going to make an Opel Astra make backfire, thus creating smoke.
I thought that too. He was gonna smoke opal
Before finding out from your channel I never would have known that water etc could impact this type of stone soo much. Thank you
Yeah I know but this doesn’t happen to Australian opal. 🤷♂️
I had some cracked and totally dehydrated Mexican Opal that I experimented with. I was told to use a brown paper bag from the supermarket to smoke the Opal in. Since these stones were already polished and then had gone completely dry and were beautiful but worthless, I gave it a go. They came out perfectly black with bright color. They were almost chalky in texture and would "bite" on the tongue test before and after the smoking. The same sort of material can be found in Southern California at Nowak Opal mine in the Mojave desert although some is cuttable and stable. In the Mexican from Queretaro which is in a red Rhyolite, the So. Cal, which is in the vugs in a Basaltic lava flow and the Opal up by Gerlach Nevada which also comes from the vugs in a basaltic lava, the Opal has a high water content and should be put in a bottle of water immediately, and left there. In my experience very little is stable over a long period of time. As far as I know there is no way to stabilize this chalky material and make it usable in jewelry. I had my dest luck with Spencer Idaho Opal that comes from a black rhyolite. To me it feels slightly softer than the better Australian material, but takes a great polish and has lots of color although usually in thin layers so making a doublet or triplet is the best way to handle it. In it's natural state it varies from pure white to clear layers and some in the pink range. I have seen fire layers over a 1/4" thick that cut very nice solid stones that are perfectly stable. I have not tried smoking Spencer Opal, but due to it's lack of porosity, I wouldn't think the smoke would penetrate far into the stone and would likely wear off in time.
It’s amazing how many shops, dealers, sellers say that these types of opal haven’t been treated at all.
There are currently two mines in Ethiopia, near Welo province, but not at the proper mine that produces most of the welo opal, and the Lion's share of Ethiopian opal in general; ...anyway; -there are two separate mines just outside of welo, one of them is called the stayish mine, and the name of the other mine escapes me at the moment, but both of those locations produce (more one than the other); A) : dark brown "chocolate" opals, (these are generally encapsulated in very hard to get through clay to dark rust colored stone, other than the part that's broken open to show color. And geez, almost as unstable/ tragically precarious of a material as I've ever tested my patience to work with, second only to the extremely limited quantity of Black based nonhydrophane opal that readily comes out of the other one of those aforementioned mines
I hate smoked opals, but learning the process via you I did truly love. Thank you.
I have seen some videos where they soak the stone in sugar water and then follow that with sulfuric acid.
Basically, the sugar reacts chemically within the sulfuric acid, and releases carbon into the stone.
Seems to me that the sugar method would be more efficient than the smoke method. A higher percentage of carbon can be put into the stone in a shorter period of time.
Don't put these opal in acid. It does not work out.
Your videos are really informative and mesmerizing, I appreciate them so much!
Does the opal that went clear when placed in water change back after it drying or is this a permanent change??
It changes back in a few days to weeks
As it dries, yes. It absorbs water, and then it dries out. It takes a week, usually, to get back to a neutral state. You will see if slowly change back over that time.
So long as you are cutting it just with water, the stone will not be harmed.
It can go back but if it’s in soapy or dirty water repeatedly it will get dirty
I don't think you need to get defensive about ethiopian opal - aussie opal is gorgeous, and so is the best african opal. I've seen aussie opal that was unstable and cracked, and cut aussie opal is a little more mechanically brittle than cut ethiopian (according to published comparisons). If customers know their opals are hydrophane they won't be upset when they get them wet (its a transient change anyway). Smoking opals is terrible I admit, but its easily detected and no-one could mistake a smoked one for a genuine aussie black one. The real risk to buyers is buying rough ethipian to cut - it almost always cracks during cutting in my experience. I don't pay extra for large size rough since I know I'm going to end up with smaller pieces (I only pay for color and pattern quality).
You can see the crazing in the stones. Simply use a light, look for any crazing, and where it exists, decide if you can make a stone out of it depending on where the cracks are. If it is craze-free, you will be good to go . . . so long as you do not subject it to too much heat.
Well said
@@michaeldenison7339 You can see existing cracks for sure. The issue is when the stone is wet for cutting new cracks appear and old ones propagate further through the stone. The best advice I'd had for this is to rub out the stone as quickly as possible. But that's a risk as well.
Excellent opal for making a secret message ring or pendant! Anyone done that yet?
What a great idea!
😆😆
I feel a novel coming on....
Man oh man, the plain water change is incredible. Honestly that’s nuts. Thank you for doing this mate. 👌
You could use a neutral wood with a small cold smoker, which is basically just a smoke box with a pipe attached to it that transfers the smoke to another box so it doesn't get any of the stress fractures from the heat.
True :-) my technique was very primitive
@@blackopaldirect I would just throw the "opal" in the bin tbh
I just bought one and smoked it last night. I followed your example in this video. The opal I got was a cabochon with a high dome and a honeycomb pattern. The auction pictures and video made it look mainly blue with orange and yellow and green flashes. It was almost clear when it arrived but it did have very nice flashes of colour in the sunlight. I don't think anyone would have guessed it was an Opal unless they were familiar with that type of stone.
Anyway, I was curious and wanted to try smoking it as I had already seen this video of yours. It worked, but it turned out a dark brown. I have yet to see a dark brown or any brown Australian opal.
I will say this, when you hit it with a light now, it's all deep red and emerald green flashes inside it. It is really beautiful in the moments that it's flashing.
I have submerged it in soapy water this morning but it didn't change colour at all. I was expecting the smoke to come back out of it and I expected it to turn clear. It didn't do any of that.
Some Ethiopian opal will take treatment and some won't. How to tell which ones will is a good question and maybe some else who knows more about them could chime in a do tell
When you add smoke to a piece of pottery,we use organic material like hay and you put a lid on top to keep the smoke in contact w the piece,might work w opal..
Have you tried doing this with a kitchen sized smoke infuser? Might get the same effect without risk of too much heat from the direct flame from the paper.
I watched a video of someone who treated an Ethiopian opal by soaking it overnight in sugar water which I guess pulls the sugar inside the opal. And then they put it in the oven at around 500° and the sugar that went inside the opal blackened and charred.
There are handheld smoking devices used in cooking that you could use, it’s basically just a small vacuum with a bowl for sawdust and you just lite it and it goes.
G'day Nathan
Thank you for this episode on Ethiopian Opal.
It is good to know and be aware of possible frauds.
Thank you.
Andy
If I were smoking it I would put it in a Masson jar light my paper then blow it out for the smoke then put a lid on it and let it smoke for a long time
great idea
I was thinking something like that as well. Showed my science kids how to create a vacuum strong enough to suck a hard boiled egg into a bottle, and the smoke stayed suspended in there a good long time.
How stable is Ethiopian opal compared to Australian opal regarding flintnapping? Could you Knapp an Ethiopian opal into a Arrowhead?
Good question I am not sure about that one
Ive only seen slabbed Australian opal knapped as the Ethiopian forms in funky shaped nodules without color bars in hard potch per se.
You can get a table top smoker that takes wood pellets, they are used in bars to smoke drinks.
I've been watching your videos for a good while now and hate to say it but I just subscribed upon watching the last one , not this one but the last one prior to this one . Dude , you're the kinda guy I'd like to sit down and enjoy a pint with ....I bet you have some stories ! I'm from North Carolina in the USA and live close to the grandfather mountain range in a area that once produced gold . Opal's really interest me and the way they are formed in more so . I saw you do the happy dance once and lmao to it and then I realized with the find you had worked out in hand I would have too .....Love your channel !
we shall have a pint one day and you can drink me under the table haha
I got my first opal yesterday im so proud its a fire opal from Etheiopia its so beautiful in real life 😊
Thats great I am glad you like it.
I've never seen smoking rocks end so beautifully. Usualy it end with auntie pawning her couch.
🤣 Good one!
another great vid Justin; I dont know how I missed this, but I wish I had watched this before buying hydrophane rough
people say if they get wet with water that they should get their color back - but I dont know if I believe that anymore. Also the volatility is REAL! - I dont think I'm ever going to sell ethiopian opal stones b/c of these concerns, but perhaps I'll experiment with epoxy to stop the inevitable cracking and crazing! God I love australian opals...
I wonder if you could treat it by submerging it in dye, the same way they dye tumbled stones. Personally, I like to keep the opals as they are.
I filmed something with ink and it soaked in a little. But it was not worth the Filming
My friend spilled cranberry juice on one and it looks pretty cool. He calls it ethiopian cranberry opal lol
@@juliancannone432 or make actual chocolate opal by pouring hot chocolate on it
@@blackopaldirect so your calligraphy or scrimshaw inks did not go into the stone is what you're saying like what we use and sell to people who do scrimshaw on bone Stone and some synthetic materials?
Put opal in sugar water at 170 degrees for 3-5 days. Dry off liquid but do not wash. Then put in an acid resistant container inside another container with sulfuric acid in it . Cover the large bowl then heat to 170 degrees for 3-5 days. Results vary with opal quality.
Hmm atleast now i know Y when i buy Ethiopian opal its already been treated to black (not sure how) but looks good but compared to my ausie opal not that good. Depends on the piece i guess ..untreated shewa opals lovely. Treated Andamooka opal is my favourite
Very useful and nice video. Thank you! Does smoked/treated Ethiopian opal still absorbs water? Even if sugar treatment is made?
I saw opals being smoked in a screen layered wood box above smoldering log fresh off a fire.they said Important to keep heat down
I am a new sub, thank you so much for sharing, I'm learning heaps and enjoying the time spent watching. I missed the last live stream, I have notifications on I hope I don't miss any more. Have a great day everyone
Peace
Awesome! Thank you!
Thank you for the great info and your honest opinion. That’s why I watch ur vids and also to see all of your beautiful work. 🤔👍🏻
Hum... purely random thought. BUT what about taking some coloured resin, putting the opal into a pressure chamber while submerged in the resin and using the vacuum to pull the resin into it ? I now that some places did the same with rubies.
Does the sulfuric and sugar heated soaks work?
That’s only for concrete Andamooka opal
@@blackopaldirect should work for any porous opal as well. as long as the sugar and acid solutions can penetrate the stone (and I bet they would)
Also when Ethiopian opal is being cut on a wet wheel the opal gets wet and when drying the opal that was just cut will begin to crack everywhere. That is why when a etheopen opal is being cut it is such a large stone that will need to be recut to try to get these cracks out. If a person is lucky that person can cut the cracks out they might have a etheopen opal that was cut many time's to get the cracks out after it's dried through many wet and drying time's. Most etheopen opals do not come to pass because of this cracking and recuting prosses. I'd take Australian opal over Ethiopian opal any day.
This is not true for most welo opal (from the specific welo field). Other ethiopian opals from other fields do craze after cutting though.
I have never had a good experience with them but I haven't learnt to cut them properly so I should not really say otherwise
@@makkyd123 the one fact that I can say without a doubt is that Australian opal will not crack due to getting wet and then drying. It doesn't matter witch field or part of Australia it comes from it will not crack due to drying. I did one time buy etheopen wello opal for a short time to educate myself. I bought the white etheopen wello opal because it looked so much like Australian opal but when I got it in the mail it to was crazed and that ended it for me that was the education I was looking for. I bought it because if a person is going to buy and sell Australian opal they should know what etheopen opal looks like. I now know how to identify both. Since then I've had people try to pass etheopen opal off as Australian opal and they get blocked for doing so. Etheopen opal is cheap and to me not worth getting taken from someone that would pass it off as Australian opal. Australian opal costs a lot more for good quality and etheopen opal to me is not a investment gem. But each to their own.
Thank you for the knowledge of making this video to pass on educational information about opals!
Our pleasure!
I wonder if the paper having ink in it is important. Could be making it not come out as a clean color. Id cover it in kindling like a proper clean white oak or something that burns clean and then cover it and let is settle.
Justin, I wonder if you have ever had cut an Indonesian opal and if so, what is your opinion on the quality?
It is also volcanic opal
The worst is that oils and perfumes will penetrate it. It is cheap, which I can afford to work with. But it does have its drawbacks.
I would love to work with some Australian opal. But it is out of my price range. I could try with stones that are low quality, if for nothing, just the experience.
Great to learn on but cutting it is very different to Australian
Maybe this has already been said, but something like a candle in a jar might work where you light it, put the opal in next to it, and then seal the jar so that all the smoke will be trapped when the candle goes out
I smoked an opal once, I saw lots and lots of colours.
I have to admit, while I love Australian opals, Ethiopian welo opals are amazing. My mother just bought me a gorgeous welo opal for mother's day.
Very nice!
How's the main body color on it now, at 8 months later? Have you found it's discolored at all? It is beautiful, no denying that, I've just found it to be so temperamental in changing unwanted colors like from white/clear to yellowish brown. I truly hope yours is still like the day you got it! If it is, beware of lotions, perfumes, etc. it will soak it all up like a sponge and unlike the water, it won't return to original if it "dries" out.
@@anitataco6488 I haven't had any problems with it. I do have to be careful, since it does go clear in water if left for too long, but since I don't use perfumes or lotions I don't have to worry about that. Even when it goes clear it always dries out and goes back to white. No cracks either.
@@evanalian Yay! I'm so happy to hear that! It's so disappointing to find them discolored. It sounds like you're the perfect person to be able to keep one looking nice!
Mine were in storage cases, not exposed to anything at all and 90% went a really unfortunate shade of yellowy brown within a year of storing. I was in a bout of depression and had no will to create and when it finally lifted, I was shocked to find my beautiful stockpile ruined. Thousands of beads and cut stones. Pure devastation. I just wonder what they do or don't do to the ones that stayed true to original. I can't tell a difference between which will discolor and which won't. I'm going to see if I can smoke them black. I can't make them any worse, that's for sure.
@@anitataco6488 I'm sorry that happened. I would be so upset! Hopefully you can salvage them in some way!
First and thanks for teaching what smoke treating opal is
you are #2
Get a covered insence burner the kind that has small holes on the sides not top. Make a tight bunch of sage set it and open inside plug openings with clay leaving only one or two holes light sage blow out fire cover with top. Reducing number of holes will build up more smoke. Might have play with it until you get the right amount. Or put them in a meat smoker.
Is hydrophane the same as ethiopian? I have hydrophane, and its yellow with play of color dry, and pretty much the same wet except it does clear up a bit but clear yellow. But i just ordered 200 worth of ethiopian rough. Ill let ya know what i think.
yes it is
i'm still on the fence about whether or not i want to treat mine with opticon. I will lose money in the short run, but my customers will get a stone that won't yellow over time, especially in a tobacco household etc. decisions decisions
I had so many yellow on me. Not all of them though, and they were all stored in the same cases and place. It's strange.
Once again thank you for sharing your knowledge. Be safe and stay healthy.😷
Thanks, you too!
Wife says “Thank you very much for this information..” 🥰 I say I love your shows especially when the ladies come out to say hello. And your are 🤪. I know because I am too.
Seems if you could do that with paper, you could use wood pellets for a stove to get a more controlled outcome
But does the Ethiopian opal revert back to its original colors once taken out of the water??
I wonder if there’s a way to coat the opal so it can’t change like that, maybe in resin?
Thank you SO much for this valuable information!
Glad it was helpful!
Could you use A bee smoker ?
Possibly could.
if its just a case of letting smoke hit it could you use the good old smoker on a barbi to obtain the results your after ?
Dawn dish soap or a degreaser should be able to pull out some of the smoke oils.
I have noticed that the opal changes colour when water is introduced...does it return to its natural state over time?
Hey when the stones are smoked to be jet black, does the colour dissapear when its wet also?? Waz hoping you would wet that brown one.
Have you tried sugar and sulfuric acid?
Thats only for Andamooka opal. but it may work I haven't tried it
@@blackopaldirect If I had a piece of white Ethiopian opal I would try it. I am not a big fan of the stuff. Very pretty much of the time but way too unstable for me. If it works I would suggest opticon soaking for weeks.
Maybe even throwing it under a vacuum.
when the ethiopian opal drys dose the colour come back or is it lost for good
It can come back but some pieces never change back. You just don't know. Thank you for being a subscriber for over a year :-)
@@blackopaldirect i normaly smoke meat that i hunt not rocks ha ha
Thank you Justin for sharing your knowledge!
I knew about the rare cause of some cracking, but I've never seen this before.
Thanks for the very interesting vid.
I have alot of Ethiopian opal...i put some of them in a little water ,because that is what I was supposed to do.wow...talk about a panic attack when I checked them about an hour later...left them out for several days and the color came back...won't do THAT again...live and learn
Hey just wanted to know, does an opal lose its value if it is treated?
Yes it does in Ethiopian opal. Andamooka matrix opal is worth more as there are not many colors shown before it’s treated. But anything treated in opal is not worth much
@@blackopaldirect I was hoping i could pvt message you and ask for your expertise, i am looking to purchase an opal, and wanted to know in your opinion if it is worth it, is there somewhere i could message you?
Looking out for us all , great guy , thank you
Politzer opal uses sugar water and acid
Is there a way to hydrate sard back to opal?
I have seen in the series Outback Opal hunters on Discovery that they keep them in water sometimes. Is that a clever thing to do then?
That's a smokin hot opal Justin. wonder what its like inside, was interesting to see the opal clear, and could still see some colour flashes.
Ethiopian opal is definitely beautiful, but the weakness to water is a big drawback. I wonder if it will happen if worn in humid areas as well, just from exposure to the air.
covering it with a bowl would trap the smoke, perhaps use wood chips and have the opal away from the heat. I don't know just spitballing here, never tried this at all.
It's hydrophane opal. Containing lot of water I wonder if it can explode when heated. I cook and burn fairy opals and they are dangerous if not totally dried.
I've only cut some Welo opal in the past but never knew how color change by the end of the process :) It is always a surprise. Better stick with Ridge material.
interesting information on Hydrophane opals, but I have to ask if you smoke an opal do you see lots of pretty colors? ;-)
Hahaha I doooooooooooooeeee
From what I understand, that white one that soaked up the water and turned clear, will dry out after a few days and return to the original color splash it had before soaking it ;-)
Sometimes it will do that and sometimes pieces will stay white and some will crack. You just never know
Is there a way to make the opal look transparent permanently? I recently got a ring with a white opal and i found out i like it much better when it gets transparent 😅 i had no idea they did that!
I wonder if there is a way to make this type of opal more stable
Not all Ethiopian is hydrophane ,most is, it also absorbs moisture at different levels ,depending on where its come from.
Correct but it’s a small amount
Hey justin try cold smoking it. That should work better instead of direct heat. That should work.
I spoke to a cutter in America and told me its where they mine Ephiopian opal depends if it cracks easy and of course its natural colour and hardness.ive got heaps of it and got the crappy gems and of course the high quality.im letting you know they have found another mine site with even better quality.just saying you can get really good opal from there
I tried smoking some opal once but it was only potch
Excellent comparison, Justin... Does the stone go back to white when it dries out, or does it stay clear after being submerged?
Thank you. YEs some do go back and some don't it just depends on the stone and its density I guess
Hello Opal Direct, I heard that hydrophane opals needs a special treatment. I was looking for answers because I have the same situation, I found that when the opal looses its transparency it’s submerged in water to gain its water content again and it needs to be sealed after that so it don’t loose its water again. The procedure it’s simple, it’s done with some kind of wax. That way the opal don’t looses its water anymore. Do you think it’s a good idea?
I don’t know really that type of opal is not my cup of tea
My first thought once it went clear in plain water was, to suspect it would take to a dying treatment extremely well.