- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 6,882
As a lover of Opals I would like to own them ALL!
Australian Opals are stunning and I own a few lovely pieces. Welo or Ethiopian Opals are the “new kid” on the block. A different style of Opal, most like Australian Jelly Opal as they are more transparent, almost moonstone like in some cases and being hydrophobic require more care when it comes to oils and perfumes as in “avoid avoid avoid”.
Care needs to be exercised with “Black Welo Opal” as natural is rare and due to Welo Opals hydrophobic quality, it’s possible to introduce black dye into the opal and “create” a black toned Welo Opal. This is obviously not a permanent treatment and they are You Tube videos showing how the dye, if present, easily leeches out.
my love however is for the blue toned, moonstone like Welo Opals. I’m not a fan of the yellowish tone.
As an ebay lover, 18 odd years now, I always have my eye out for good reputable sellers of items I love to buy, mostly I concentrate on pre loved jewellery but Welo Opals caught my eye.
Welo Opals, like all gemstones, come in different qualities and there are great, good, ok and terrible ones. A big complaint with Welo Opals is that while they look magnificent against a black background and under intense white light, translated into normal light and wearing against the skin, meh, very meh. So it’s hard to assess eBay photos against what it will look like in real life. While many sellers do offer a return policy the reality of “returns” is expensive (shipping both ways and PayPal fee) and time consuming so I always buy to keep.
I found a Bangkok seller whose items looked promising. Photos seemed reliable, quality of make looked reasonable, set in sterling silver, and the prices very attractive. Why not.
The ring arrived this morning, it was US $125 Plus $15 shipping.
Australian Opals are stunning and I own a few lovely pieces. Welo or Ethiopian Opals are the “new kid” on the block. A different style of Opal, most like Australian Jelly Opal as they are more transparent, almost moonstone like in some cases and being hydrophobic require more care when it comes to oils and perfumes as in “avoid avoid avoid”.
Care needs to be exercised with “Black Welo Opal” as natural is rare and due to Welo Opals hydrophobic quality, it’s possible to introduce black dye into the opal and “create” a black toned Welo Opal. This is obviously not a permanent treatment and they are You Tube videos showing how the dye, if present, easily leeches out.
my love however is for the blue toned, moonstone like Welo Opals. I’m not a fan of the yellowish tone.
As an ebay lover, 18 odd years now, I always have my eye out for good reputable sellers of items I love to buy, mostly I concentrate on pre loved jewellery but Welo Opals caught my eye.
Welo Opals, like all gemstones, come in different qualities and there are great, good, ok and terrible ones. A big complaint with Welo Opals is that while they look magnificent against a black background and under intense white light, translated into normal light and wearing against the skin, meh, very meh. So it’s hard to assess eBay photos against what it will look like in real life. While many sellers do offer a return policy the reality of “returns” is expensive (shipping both ways and PayPal fee) and time consuming so I always buy to keep.
I found a Bangkok seller whose items looked promising. Photos seemed reliable, quality of make looked reasonable, set in sterling silver, and the prices very attractive. Why not.
The ring arrived this morning, it was US $125 Plus $15 shipping.
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