Opals are probably my favorite gemstone. I have always wondered how they were defined since there are so many varieties. Unfortunately, I have never thought of buying an opal because they are so soft and volatile compared to diamond or sapphire. This video was very helpful. Thank you.
Until recently I associate the white opal as what an opal is. Over the last couple years I have taken up rockhounding and watch rockhounding videos here on TH-cam. That exposed me to several of the types of opals. I live in Oregon and different types of opal can be found here. I will say that my current favorite are the boulder opals.
International Women's Day here in Brazil is a time for receiving an extra gift. I now have an opal pendant. If I hadn't watched this video I would have imagined all opals to look like the one I received. I loved learning about the differences.Thank you!
Thank you! Great video! My boyfriends parents own a rock shop and they do alot of rock shows through out the year, since him and I have been together I have been starting to help them out at shows, we also frequently go rockhounding. Ofcourse opal caught my eye and I have invested in some pieces. I want to learn about them as much as I can! This was super helpful! Thank you! I also before meeting my bf and his family always associated white opal to opal! 💜
I've always loved opal, and obviously knew why they're so unique, but I still learned quite a bit! I think it's sorry interesting that most people have an automatic idea of what opal is
Some of the Boulder opal examples looked like abalone shell to me. I have some white opal ear rings that I just love. I always get amused when people whose birthday is in October tell me that if it is not your birthstone then wearing it is bad luck. They’re just jealous of my ear rings!
You are very good at what you do. Keep up your great work and thank you very much for sharing your knowledge in a very easy to understand jargon free (technical) language.
I have some lovely Ethopian opals I would like to have set into jewelry/pendants. They are many years old, so I think they're pretty "stable". I guess they can only be set in gold, because you don't want to have to clean the metal (need a metal that doesn't oxidize much)? Or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!
I personally feel that any expensive and/or important opal is better in a setting you won't have to clean as often, but some don't mind the look of tarnished sterling. Gold/white gold is always a good ring option in my opinion.
@@YourAverageJeweler white gold is a bad idea for a ring. White gold is yellow gold plated in platinum. In a ring, the white would rub off very fast. If you want a fine metal ring in a white/silver color, choose platinum. (This is why you see a lot of platinum wedding rings vs. White gold wedding rings.)
I bought a batch of stones for tumbling that included a stone marketed as "green opal", which is supposedly a type of common opal. I was hoping to learn more about it. My actually take-away from the video is Wow, boulder opal is pretty! Thank you for adding to my wish list.
Oh great .. I just ordered a $$$ Ethiopian fire opal from India and the seller didn't tell me anything about keeping it from getting wet, etc. So does that mean every time I go to wash my hands or even just rinse them I have to take the ring off? Also, I've now seen videos that mention the "water soak" test to determine whether they are genuine Welo opals, and they say in those videos to not worry, that after a few hours of being "transparent" w/o colors the colors (and white) will return as before. True or false?
This is true, the colors will return over time. But 'Welo' opal as it's commonly called is hydrophane, meaning when it's placed in water it absorbs it, as you've said. Well opal does have a habit of forming cracks while drying out if it dries out too quickly. To offset the possibility of it forming cracks, if it 'goes colorless' on you, wrap it in a damp washcloth place it in a plastic container with lid on but loose and keep it in a humid area so it dries out slower. Nitpicky, I know, but it'll lower the chances of it cracking on you if you get it wet. Otherwise if you get it wet but the color didn't fade, wipe the water off it, and it should be fine.
Love watching the films and the education I’m getting from watching them . I was looking at some of your films and was hoping to fine something on sapphires and star sapphires.
I have a raw white opal I picked up during a hike in Alaska. It doesn’t look like much but there’s translucent stone under a thin surface layer of opaque white. Might be worth getting it cut one day.
I carve opals as a hobby. I've noticed that a lot of my friends have bought white opals for engagement rings etc. I think the soft white colours lend the gems to this. That said black opals are my favourite.
I enjoyed your show. You are very knowledgeable. Before I watched it, I thought opals have only one color, egg white color, because opal’s Chinese names is “egg white stone”.
@Your Average Jeweler Your description of the reason is sadly completely wrong :( . The angle is not what creates the color, the color creates the angle. This is extremely important when discussing the reasons for why opal creates its color. The color of each sphere is determined via its size as they are on the order of the wavelength of light so we get photonic interactions as some spheres interact with specific frequencies while others are too small to do so. This is one of the reasons why Reds are relatively hard to find as the Opal spheres would need to be rather long else the larger longer wavelengths of Red light will simply "Go Around" the sphere while shorter Blues are diffracted by them. With Opal flashes what you are seeing with each color is clusters of specific sized spheres arranged in a semi ordered pattern such that the interact with a very specific frequency of light while allowing other frequencies to pass by. To learn more about such effect research Meta-materials and Photonics because as we get better at nano-scale constructions we are able to create objects which do this exact effect Its kinda like the diffraction of a CD grating but round and specific for one frequency which is determined by size of the sphere.
Since Opal is my birthstone I probably own an example of each kind you talked about with the exception of fire opal. I have some synthetic opal I have some doublets.I don't know if I have one that's just three layer opal but I have white ones and I have black ones and I have Ethiopian opals. I thought that all opals were white until I traveled to Australia. I saw the most amazing opals in Australia, and decided that it was like Iowa beef: They keep the good stuff in Iowa and export the bad. But now I'm going to have to go find some fire opal. Thank you.
Hi, fantastic . Thank you so much , was wondering if you can do Amythest , it's from Bolivia my home country, it was almost considered precious stone like Dimond but it just missed out? Is this true?
There's water iH2O n Opals. In Brazil we have only white opals. They are found in the state of Piauí. You may like it or not, but they are very interesting gemstones.
To my good luck I came across this video. I had three opal stones, I sent one for cut and received 119 lobes, I want to know how to preserve them. Can I send you photos?
You can have a black CRYSTAL Opal~ Lightning Ridge is a mining reserve and not just one claim…just to clarify! As Small scale miners we do find lots of black crystal…nice job 😄
man really I want to say thank you so so so so much you doing very great job with explaining really you're 1# with explaining gemstones and I'll support you as much as I can sadly nobody know you as expert person even I was trying to find videos in youtube or information in google really nobody can explain anything I can't understand any single word but after I came here I'm new here I see you're really insane thanks a lot man maybe you know website or youtuber maybe person in instagram that where we can find more information and trusted person with right information ? that's will help a lot and I hope you upload more videos gemstones is very big world and need explaning and I hope you can do more videos
I bought what looked like a black opal from and on line jewelry store and it was expensive. Now I am so disappointed because half of the stone broke and fell off. It must have been an assembled opal like you said which they did not explain.
I am familiar with these opals you mentioned. I own Ethiopian Opals. They have a very bright play of color and is cheap compared to an Australian Opal with the same level of play of color. That being said, I take care when I wear it as it is more delicate. Black Opals with top quality of brightness and color are very very expensive. Besides doublets and triplets, some white opals are smoked, or treated to blacken them. Smoked opals are also a good option for those who wants Black Opals at a fraction of the price. Most opals that are smoked are Ethiopian ones (I own one). But Australian matrix opals can be smoked too. In my personal opinion, smoked matrix opals from the Andamooka mines in Australia closely mimics the look of the black opals from Lightning Ridge.
Take it to a jeweler for appraisal. The price of black opal varies, a darker more colourful opal is obviously worth more. A good quality black opal will cost tens of thousands US dollars, so if you payed only a few hundred, it will be a fake
I cut Australian opal as a hobby. Black, white and boulder. I mess around some with the Ethiopian hydrophane Welo opals. I cut mostly little stones because who can afford larger ones???
I love opal, it's my favorite stone. I bought a 2oz mixed parcel of Australian opal from a dealer years ago. I still haven't cut it all. I've tried Ethiopian opal, it's too unstable, hard pass.
I identify white and black and white opals. My parents actually managed to buy a real white opal from Australia set in a ring. They have purchased more fakes than real pieces so I learn what I can.
I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO A VIDEO ON JEWELRY DAMAGE AND PARFUM, HAIR SPRAY, AFTERSHAVE, ETC. I INHERITED A STRAND OF PEARLS THE WOMAN WORE THAN OFTEN BUT, SHE ALSO SPRAYED THEM WITH PARFUM, CONSTANLTY . RUINED THE STRING! AND MANY OF THE PEARLS HAVE THE NACRE DESTROYED FROM THE PERFUEM!
Opal has NO Variety Calls according to the G.I.A. As a Graduate Gemologist, I read the G.I.A. Gem Identification Lab Manual cover to cover once a year. If he had this book and read it, he would have known better. So I say to the author of this video: study harder, Padawan.
Your videos are chock full of information. When I have a question about stones now, I come straight to you.
boulder opals are my favorite! THANK YOU for explaining the structure of opals -- so cool!
You are so welcome!
I knew about white, black, and fire, but those boulder opals are just fantastic!
Opals are probably my favorite gemstone. I have always wondered how they were defined since there are so many varieties. Unfortunately, I have never thought of buying an opal because they are so soft and volatile compared to diamond or sapphire.
This video was very helpful. Thank you.
I really appreciate the images you show to help us know what the gems look like.
My mom had a treasured white opal pendant and ring set. That's what I think of first when I think of opal. Great video.
Cool, thanks
Boulder opal makes gread beads for bracelets and necklaces. I made a tie bar with a nice cabochon
I'd only ever heard of white opal before. Very cool to learn about black opal. It's gorgeous!
It's a great big world and a lot of beauty out there!
This was such an awesome video!! Thank you for being so thorough with explaining each Opal. Jelly opals are my favorite 🤩
Glad you liked it!!
@@YourAverageJeweler Read my recent comment on your video, your reasons described for why Opal creates its colors is incorrect.
Until recently I associate the white opal as what an opal is. Over the last couple years I have taken up rockhounding and watch rockhounding videos here on TH-cam. That exposed me to several of the types of opals. I live in Oregon and different types of opal can be found here. I will say that my current favorite are the boulder opals.
International Women's Day here in Brazil is a time for receiving an extra gift. I now have an opal pendant. If I hadn't watched this video I would have imagined all opals to look like the one I received. I loved learning about the differences.Thank you!
I always thought white opal was the only one. I now own jelly opal thanks to your tutorial. Thank you.
Thank you! Great video! My boyfriends parents own a rock shop and they do alot of rock shows through out the year, since him and I have been together I have been starting to help them out at shows, we also frequently go rockhounding. Ofcourse opal caught my eye and I have invested in some pieces. I want to learn about them as much as I can! This was super helpful! Thank you! I also before meeting my bf and his family always associated white opal to opal! 💜
Great explanation! Love your mission and what you're doing with your channel.
Appreciate the feed back! Also, I look forward to seeing what you are doing on your channel going forward.
Fascinating! Would love to hear your take on labradorite, thanks!
Great suggestion! It is on my radar.
Yes! Labradorite, Moonstone (my fave) and Sunstone. Heck, all of the feldspars. They call to me like nothing else.
I've always loved opal, and obviously knew why they're so unique, but I still learned quite a bit!
I think it's sorry interesting that most people have an automatic idea of what opal is
Some of the Boulder opal examples looked like abalone shell to me. I have some white opal ear rings that I just love. I always get amused when people whose birthday is in October tell me that if it is not your birthstone then wearing it is bad luck. They’re just jealous of my ear rings!
You are very good at what you do. Keep up your great work and thank you very much for sharing your knowledge in a very easy to understand jargon free (technical) language.
There is nothing so beautiful as a really good Black Opal, but I'm biased being Australian.
White opal is classic, I think. I had heard of black and fire but your information really clarified it. 🙂
I have some lovely Ethopian opals I would like to have set into jewelry/pendants. They are many years old, so I think they're pretty "stable". I guess they can only be set in gold, because you don't want to have to clean the metal (need a metal that doesn't oxidize much)? Or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!
I personally feel that any expensive and/or important opal is better in a setting you won't have to clean as often, but some don't mind the look of tarnished sterling. Gold/white gold is always a good ring option in my opinion.
@@YourAverageJeweler white gold is a bad idea for a ring. White gold is yellow gold plated in platinum. In a ring, the white would rub off very fast. If you want a fine metal ring in a white/silver color, choose platinum. (This is why you see a lot of platinum wedding rings vs. White gold wedding rings.)
This is very interesting and educational to know about how the opals structured and the colors are formed. Thanks
agreed. ive seen all the ones you showed. we had a mineral exhibit 20 years ago. thanks for sharing
White opal was all I ever knew until 10 years ago. I love them especially the fiery ones. Now I too love black opal 🖤 🖤 🖤
Love fire opal particularly from Mexico.
I bought a batch of stones for tumbling that included a stone marketed as "green opal", which is supposedly a type of common opal. I was hoping to learn more about it. My actually take-away from the video is Wow, boulder opal is pretty! Thank you for adding to my wish list.
Oh great .. I just ordered a $$$ Ethiopian fire opal from India and the seller didn't tell me anything about keeping it from getting wet, etc. So does that mean every time I go to wash my hands or even just rinse them I have to take the ring off? Also, I've now seen videos that mention the "water soak" test to determine whether they are genuine Welo opals, and they say in those videos to not worry, that after a few hours of being "transparent" w/o colors the colors (and white) will return as before. True or false?
This is true, the colors will return over time. But 'Welo' opal as it's commonly called is hydrophane, meaning when it's placed in water it absorbs it, as you've said.
Well opal does have a habit of forming cracks while drying out if it dries out too quickly.
To offset the possibility of it forming cracks, if it 'goes colorless' on you, wrap it in a damp washcloth place it in a plastic container with lid on but loose and keep it in a humid area so it dries out slower. Nitpicky, I know, but it'll lower the chances of it cracking on you if you get it wet.
Otherwise if you get it wet but the color didn't fade, wipe the water off it, and it should be fine.
Really informative content! Thank you!😊
What is the blue/green opal? Is it lab created or under one of the other opal colors?
What were the beautiful stones marketed in ‘70s as opals? Blue-green with fire. where the hey a source gone now, or a composite?
Love watching the films and the education I’m getting from watching them . I was looking at some of your films and was hoping to fine something on sapphires and star sapphires.
Awesome video. I like ofcourse black opals but altso crystal opals from Ligthing Ridge.
Love the info at the end!!!
What do you call those look like jelly yellow (like fire opal) but contains play of colour?
I love opal so much it’s so stunning
I have a raw white opal I picked up during a hike in Alaska. It doesn’t look like much but there’s translucent stone under a thin surface layer of opaque white. Might be worth getting it cut one day.
Thank you so much my friend
I carve opals as a hobby. I've noticed that a lot of my friends have bought white opals for engagement rings etc. I think the soft white colours lend the gems to this. That said black opals are my favourite.
What do you know about Peruvian opal or “opalized” stones?
+Tina Reiser It's basically petrified wood which is quite dark in color but is heat treated to bring out a rainbow of colors.
Sir goodafternoon can i ask what kind of stone is this
I enjoyed your show. You are very knowledgeable.
Before I watched it, I thought opals have only one color, egg white color, because opal’s Chinese names is “egg white stone”.
Always thought of opal as white opal. As a geologist, did not know about these five types of opal!
@Your Average Jeweler Your description of the reason is sadly completely wrong :( . The angle is not what creates the color, the color creates the angle. This is extremely important when discussing the reasons for why opal creates its color. The color of each sphere is determined via its size as they are on the order of the wavelength of light so we get photonic interactions as some spheres interact with specific frequencies while others are too small to do so. This is one of the reasons why Reds are relatively hard to find as the Opal spheres would need to be rather long else the larger longer wavelengths of Red light will simply "Go Around" the sphere while shorter Blues are diffracted by them. With Opal flashes what you are seeing with each color is clusters of specific sized spheres arranged in a semi ordered pattern such that the interact with a very specific frequency of light while allowing other frequencies to pass by. To learn more about such effect research Meta-materials and Photonics because as we get better at nano-scale constructions we are able to create objects which do this exact effect Its kinda like the diffraction of a CD grating but round and specific for one frequency which is determined by size of the sphere.
Yes!
Thank you. Very informative, from the beginning
Since Opal is my birthstone I probably own an example of each kind you talked about with the exception of fire opal. I have some synthetic opal I have some doublets.I don't know if I have one that's just three layer opal but I have white ones and I have black ones and I have Ethiopian opals. I thought that all opals were white until I traveled to Australia. I saw the most amazing opals in Australia, and decided that it was like Iowa beef: They keep the good stuff in Iowa and export the bad. But now I'm going to have to go find some fire opal. Thank you.
And here I thought I was supposed to store my opals in water to keep them from fading. (But I only have one opal, so I'm not worried about it.)
Hi, fantastic . Thank you so much , was wondering if you can do Amythest , it's from Bolivia my home country, it was almost considered precious stone like Dimond but it just missed out? Is this true?
Thank you Andrew.
I am happy to have learned that an opal is an aggregate of spheres. What is “opalescence”?
It is when something that is not opal has an opal layer that creates the same effect. Ammolite is a good example.
There's water iH2O n Opals. In Brazil we have only white opals. They are found in the state of Piauí. You may like it or not, but they are very interesting gemstones.
Have you seen treated matrix opal stones? Some of them look like concrete but some look like jewels once they've been treated.
White opals with lots of fire. But looking at the jelly opals ooooooo :)
To my good luck I came across this video. I had three opal stones, I sent one for cut and received 119 lobes, I want to know how to preserve them. Can I send you photos?
Choose the gem you love...their all unique and Lovely
In my minds eye I was aware of both White and Black opal though I was ignorant of their names but the Boulder opal I was totally unaware of.
What about Matrix opal?
You can have a black CRYSTAL Opal~ Lightning Ridge is a mining reserve and not just one claim…just to clarify! As Small scale miners we do find lots of black crystal…nice job 😄
Honestly i never thought of opals!
I have white and black opal. Black opal is expensive per carat especially if it has beautiful colors shining when light strikes
I wish rainbow lattice sunstone was related to opal
Ethi-opals? Awesome
man really I want to say thank you so so so so much you doing very great job with explaining really you're 1# with explaining gemstones and I'll support you as much as I can sadly nobody know you as expert person even I was trying to find videos in youtube or information in google really nobody can explain anything I can't understand any single word but after I came here I'm new here I see you're really insane thanks a lot man maybe you know website or youtuber maybe person in instagram that where we can find more information and trusted person with right information ? that's will help a lot and I hope you upload more videos gemstones is very big world and need explaning and I hope you can do more videos
That’s why I’m here. Thanks!
You missed fern opal of which I have one.
+Jim Gordon Fern opal falls into the category of jelly opals.
Thank you
Opals are my birthstones. I love black opals.
I bought what looked like a black opal from and on line jewelry store and it was expensive. Now I am so disappointed because half of the stone broke and fell off. It must have been an assembled opal like you said which they did not explain.
I love a man that corrects his errors. That's very sexy!
I am familiar with these opals you mentioned. I own Ethiopian Opals. They have a very bright play of color and is cheap compared to an Australian Opal with the same level of play of color. That being said, I take care when I wear it as it is more delicate.
Black Opals with top quality of brightness and color are very very expensive. Besides doublets and triplets, some white opals are smoked, or treated to blacken them. Smoked opals are also a good option for those who wants Black Opals at a fraction of the price. Most opals that are smoked are Ethiopian ones (I own one). But Australian matrix opals can be smoked too. In my personal opinion, smoked matrix opals from the Andamooka mines in Australia closely mimics the look of the black opals from Lightning Ridge.
Some Black opal is also found in some American petrified woods
Hello I recently bought a 30 carat black opal. Would like to know if it's real. Thx
Take it to a jeweler for appraisal. The price of black opal varies, a darker more colourful opal is obviously worth more. A good quality black opal will cost tens of thousands US dollars, so if you payed only a few hundred, it will be a fake
Good.
I had an unset Opal that just cracked. Opals need special care.
Indonesian Opal are beautiful too ,sadly underrated
I cut Australian opal as a hobby. Black, white and boulder. I mess around some with the Ethiopian hydrophane Welo opals. I cut mostly little stones because who can afford larger ones???
I usually identify the white opal
White opal and Andean opal (like pink or blue)
I love opal, it's my favorite stone. I bought a 2oz mixed parcel of Australian opal from a dealer years ago. I still haven't cut it all. I've tried Ethiopian opal, it's too unstable, hard pass.
I identify white and black and white opals. My parents actually managed to buy a real white opal from Australia set in a ring. They have purchased more fakes than real pieces so I learn what I can.
i have black opal lots of it
Oregon Opal?
Yes Oregon does have opal. There's quite a bit of common opal around and we have open mines
At gem shows meny tactics for sale prices are getting ot of control as all things today
Being an older American, I identify more with white opal.
You forgot about tree opal.
Fun fact: The only other place in the world to find black opal is Northern Nevada.. 😊✌️
I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO A VIDEO ON JEWELRY DAMAGE AND PARFUM, HAIR SPRAY, AFTERSHAVE, ETC. I INHERITED A STRAND OF PEARLS THE WOMAN WORE THAN OFTEN BUT, SHE ALSO SPRAYED THEM WITH PARFUM, CONSTANLTY . RUINED THE STRING! AND MANY OF THE PEARLS HAVE THE NACRE DESTROYED FROM THE PERFUEM!
သင်၏လှပသောရတနာများမျဝေပေးလိုက်သည်
Opal has NO Variety Calls according to the G.I.A. As a Graduate Gemologist, I read the G.I.A. Gem Identification Lab Manual cover to cover once a year. If he had this book and read it, he would have known better. So I say to the author of this video: study harder, Padawan.
Fire Opals used to be called Mexican Fire Opals.
The rainbow gods peace with Mankind All for our Joy
The rainbow gods peace with Mankind
According to the G.I.A. Gem Identification Lab Manual, there are NO VARIETIES of Opal. A rookie mistake
Ethiopian Opal
Hyalite Opal!!!!!
8i
Excuse me the Opals I have are Ethiopian
i can't subscribe sorry