Ethiopian opal

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Petespants

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Jul 28, 2016
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I love this stone and have a few choice strands put away for my kids.I also use the stone in everyday jewellery.I can't understand however,if it is so rare , why a)Ethiopian opal is offered so regularly. b)the price is so low considering its apparent near extinction. Can someone please enlighten me?Could the presenters be telling fibs?
 
Hi Petespants, I have a Sterling silver ring and pendant set with these stones, that I bought from Gemporia 2 years ago (husband drew my attention to it on the TV screen, and I'm pleased he did). The size of the solitaire in the ring is about 2.00 carats and in the pendant about 2.50 carats, and I bought the set in one of their sales - £19.99 the lot, including an 18 inch Sterling silver pendant neckchain. I can well understand you loving the stone - I was never a great fan of it on-screen until I got this set home and saw the myriad of different colours in the opal stone and the flashes of colour that come from it - now I feel the same as you (I bought another ring shortly afterwards). I showed it to an acquaintance who works for a jeweller and he said the stones were good quality and had been well-set, but he couldn't enlighten me as to why these opals are so cheap (I should add that Gemporia is not his favourite shopping channel, as they can do jewellery much cheaper than usual retail, so I didn't push my luck!). But having said all that, you are right, it isn't an expensive stone, even when (occasionally) shown in gold settings. A few years back, the presenters were going on and on about how these opals might vanish from the market, as some kind of embargo had been put on exporting them from Ethiopia or was about to be put on, but that was, in my opinion, just scaremongering, as there doesn't seem to be any shortage of them on Gemporia! So I think your final comment is bang-on! We have to take it all with a large dose of salt. :mysmilie_17:
I love this stone and have a few choice strands put away for my kids.I also use the stone in everyday jewellery.I can't understand however,if it is so rare , why a)Ethiopian opal is offered so regularly. b)the price is so low considering its apparent near extinction. Can someone please enlighten me?Could the presenters be telling fibs?
 
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I see loads of it on Gems so as mentioned think they are just bigging up the how rare it is.

Now the coloured version blue,pink and green are on a lot less. So they must be rare but even they are in silver any time I have seen them.
 
I agree with both of the comments above.Why they need to lie about it I don't know.People would buy these stones purely for their beauty.If you have larger quality stones e.g 2ct these are the kind of size that are most likely to be the most valuable realistically speaking.The same is true of all collectable or precious stones.Australian opal ,in my opinion ,is more difficult to obtain these days.I have several gold pieces containing Andamooka and Lightening Ridge matrix opal.Never see it anymore.
 
Yes, remember Jelly opals? We never see these now, and yet at one time they sold pieces every other day. Lots of stones - such as Petalite, Labradorite, Rubelite, Tahitian pearls and Danburite - are rarely seen. I must say I'm sick and tired of Itinga (zircon, I think it is) which seems to be on whenever I switch over for a look.

I agree with both of the comments above.Why they need to lie about it I don't know.People would buy these stones purely for their beauty.If you have larger quality stones e.g 2ct these are the kind of size that are most likely to be the most valuable realistically speaking.The same is true of all collectable or precious stones.Australian opal ,in my opinion ,is more difficult to obtain these days.I have several gold pieces containing Andamooka and Lightening Ridge matrix opal.Never see it anymore.
 

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