[Jewelry making - Article 00051] - Re: [Orchid] Care and storage of opals

[Derek]

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>      If you want to know which of your rough opal won't crack or
>     craze, take them out of the water for a year or two. If cracking or
>     crazing doesn't occur by that time, chances are it won't ever - at
>     least not under normal temperature/humidity/barometric pressure 
>     circumstances." 

    Thanks James. I agree with most of what you've said. 

    I've cut a lot of opals from different places. 

    First an observation about stability without any foundation but my
    own experience. It seems like the clearer the opal the stronger the
    chance of being unstable. That doesn't mean that all clear opal is
    unstable but I suspect that it is more likely in clear than more
    opaque varieties like white or black. As to crazing when out of
    water. I think to be even safer, it's better to cut the stone first
    before setting it aside if you think it might be unstable. What I
    mean is the rough may be stable, even dried for a while, but cutting
    can change internal stresses and it could still crack. That happened
    to a stone I cut once. That all having been said. Except for opals
    from a few locations, I don't think instability is that major an
    issue. Mexican Cherry opal can be unstable, Ethiopian opal is often
    unstable. It would be interesting to find out what other people's
    observations might be. What kinds of opals people might have had a
    problem with and which have no problems. There is so much hearsay
    with this opal situation. 


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