[Jewelry making - Article 00143] - Re: [Orchid] Incorporating opal

[Helen Hill]

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    Speaking of opals, my ex-husband's mother has asked me to mount an
    old opal for her. It was the central stone of her engagement ring
    which came from London's Garrard's Jewellers in the 1950's. The ring
    had diamond side stones. Years later the opal fell out of the ring
    and whilst living in South Africa, their maid stole a number of
    jewellery items, including the gold mount with diamonds - so now all
    she has left is the opal. She'd like it mounted in either a ring or a
    pendant. 

    The opal in question is very dull looking and as such isn't suitable
    to be mounted in anything at the moment. I have a few opals that
    I've bought recently and they have a much better finish (as you'd
    expect) and this particular opal has lost its polish, compromising
    its colour play (the polish and colour play on the cab's flat back
    are much better than on its domed front). Can its surface be
    refinished easily, ie by myself, thus not incurring any extra costs?
    I don't have any lapidary equipment but have some of the usual
    jewellery polishes and wondered if I could load a cloth with one of
    them and restore the surface that way? I have the usual things like
    Fabulustre and jeweller's rouge and also have platinum white and
    platinum blue polishes. 

    As for remounting, I'm toying with the idea of buying a suitable
    mount rather than making one. The prices for ready-cast ring mounts
    seem to be cheaper than me buying the appropriate gold and
    fabricating one myself. 

    Any opinions (apart from "don't do it!") and/or advice would be most
    welcome, thanks. 

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
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