[Jewelry making - Article 00606] - Re: [Orchid] Cleaning Opals

[Margaret Malm]

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>         Why and how does glycerin "suck the water out of opals"?? I
>     have never heard of that before, and in fact was advised many years
>     ago by a jeweler, to keep my opals in glycerine when I was not
>     wearing them. Is that wrong, and if so, what would you recommend,
>     distilled water only, or is it necessary to keep them in liquid at
>     all? Thanks in advance. Courtenay 

    There are *lots* of different opinions about this! I, too, had never
    heard that opinion about glycerin. In fact, in Australia at least,
    glycerin is what is normally recommended. Len Cram , after all his
    experiments told me glycerin, and says *not* to use water! On the
    other hand, logic seems to say water! think that probably what it
    comes down to is to preserve the water that *is* in the opal. (And
    this is what the glycerin is supposed to do.) 

Margaret

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