[Jewelry making - Article 00937] - Re: [Orchid] Grams per carat - opals question

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>        If I my I'd like to add a qualifier to your opal comment.  Fine
>     opal is typically sold by the carat.  Opal in matrix most often is
>     sold by the piece.  If the seller quotes carat price for matrix
>     material look out. 

    	Dear Orchidians,	 	For those of you that don't have much 
experience
    buying opal, if you go to a trade show there will be dealers selling
    any kind of opal, including boulder opal, solid and doublet by the
    piece and by the carat. Any dealer who sells by the piece probably
    bought it by the carat.  

    	Rough is bought by the ounce or gram, after it is cut, what you
    paid for it has to be divided by whats left in carats. Gluing the
    piece to a backing does not change what you paid for the rough. 

    		 I would think that for convenience dealers price their better
    stones before a show so they don't have to weight and reweight the
    same stone for different customers. Jayson Traurig(sp) is a vendor at
    GLW shows and always has bags of doublets at $10, $15, $20 ect. per
    carat. 

    		With opal, I have seen similar looking opal in different piles,
    with very different prices. There is no logic sometimes to how it is
    priced. Obviously the more intense the color, the higher the price,
    and some colors are prized more than others, some patterns are
    prized. Buying opal is a learning experience a little different than
    other stones. 

    		 Solid opal or doublets can craze after you purchase them. Some
    dealers will trade you out for stones that craze, even if you have
    them for a long time. Other dealers don't stand behind their
    material. I lost $400 on a pair of earrings when one turned cloudy,
    the company I bought it from doesn't care after the sale. I can take
    the good one and use it for some thing, but I have to pull the
    doublet from the 14k gold bezel mounting, and I don't know till I try
    if it will survive removal, doublets can be chipped easily. 

    		Being an Opalholic, I have made a lot more good purchases than 
bad
    ones over the years. Seems to be the price to be involved with
    gemstones that are so beautiful and so fragile. 				 

Richard in Denver

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