What to expect from welo opal

Can anyone help explain about my recent ring purchase, ive just taken delivery of a welo opal ring , it was platinum overlay 925 and at a reasnable £24.99 however half the opal is a muddy fawn colour and in the opal there is- only way to discribe this is like a black pencil mark, am going to return this but was wondering should i replace with another or take a refund, just not sure if i was unlucky, or that is the norm ,if set in silver, thanks to anyone who can help.

It shouldn't be like that, Roxy - it should be translucent with bright play-of-colour throughout. Some Welo opals do have black marks, but most don't (and sometimes the marks actually rub off). So, if you like the design, it's definitely worth getting a replacement.

Welo opals are, however, very variable, and my advice is always to order 3 of the same item if you can, and then you can choose the best and send back the others.

Settings should never affect gemstones.

Opals are judged by colour play and transluency so if you've got one that's muddy as you describe, it's not a good specimen. Typically Welo's have a very light body colour and great ones perform beautifully. Unfortunately photographing opals is fairly difficult but I'm attaching a montage of one I own so you can see how different one should look when rotated.

Hope that helps.

Thankyou both for your input, i have sent this back today and asked for a replacement ,fingers crossed for the next, i will be extactic if they look anything like Meeshoo"s.:flower: