Swore off opals, but you are all incorrigible enablers...

[Autumn in New England]

Autumn I haven’t any idea what your ring preferences are but I have to share one more creation. From Sako. It’s not my personal style, and I’m a bit scared of combining tons of colours to be honest, but this combo looks so glamorous here. Just for fun

Cicada Jewelry Design, Inc. on Instagram: "That rainbow skittles halo for that abstract like painting of a black opal. Perfect combo. . . . #jewelry #jeweler #gems #gemstone #gemcutter #lapidary #custom #bespoke #highend #luxury #fashion #designer #b

896 likes, 33 comments - cjd_sako on September 2, 2018: "That rainbow skittles halo for that abstract like painting of a black opal. Perfect combo. . . . #jewelry #jeweler #gems #gemstone #gemcutter #lapidary #custom #bespoke #highend #luxury #fashion #designer #bridal #cjd #diamond #antique...

www.instagram.com

Want to laugh? I SAW it! The color lover in me really admires it, actually. But I think if I went the route of CS accent stones, I might pick just one. Rubies would be kind of awesome to set off the red in the gem. I tend to be a purist though and avoid treatments, so I'd need to find untreated ruby melee. But this would be way down the line anyway (and that's if I love the opal). Thank you for the suggestion!!

 

[icy_jade]

Can I just take a moment to appreciate that you appear to have simply screenshotted your camera roll

I have to be honest, I think I’m still working toward genuinely enjoying gemstones’ different personalities! My first reaction is still… Low key kind of irritated that they won’t pick a character and stick with it… I’m getting there though. Slowly. I will confess to having some similar camera roll screenshots

Those blues and teals work on you icy!! I know we’ve talked about that!

Because I’m so lazy. And that’s why I really admire all the beautifully taken pics by you and @landscape. I just take my phone, take a few quick shots and post. So umm forget about color accuracy and what not.

I'd really love to see them, @Eli22! I was thinking about having some black opal/diamond halo studs made one day. My issue is that I have these really obese earlobes. lol I LOVE studs, but they never seem to sit right. Perhaps a dangle would be better. I don't know!

Meet my "thicc" lobies...



My favorite turquoise drops. Hi everyone!!

Well… hello beautiful…

 

[icy_jade]

Want to laugh? I SAW it! The color lover in me really admires it, actually. But I think if I went the route of CS accent stones, I might pick just one. Rubies would be kind of awesome to set off the red in the gem. I tend to be a purist though and avoid treatments, so I'd need to find untreated ruby melee. But this would be way down the line anyway (and that's if I love the opal). Thank you for the suggestion!!

I’m a boring diamond halo person… but honestly I think diamonds frame up opals nicely to let their colors shine.

 

[yssie]

Because I’m so lazy. And that’s why I really admire all the beautifully taken pics by you and @landscape. I just take my phone, take a few quick shots and post. So umm forget about color accuracy and what not.




Well… hello beautiful…

I do this thing where I try to snap some sort of gradient, turning around in a circle with a stone, or moving it into brighter and brighter lighting… and I forget where I am in the sequence and have to start over, and I take a quick selfie to tell myself that this is where I started over in the camera roll

So I have gobs of camera roll screenshots with, like, three randomly placed pics of myself from the most unflattering angles you can imagine - up the nostrils, teeth closeups..

I much prefer yours

 

[Autumn in New England]

I’m a boring diamond halo person… but honestly I think diamonds frame up opals nicely to let their colors shine.

I feel like the one you shared earlier on the other thread and Missy's have simple, but impactful halos. Opals are so colorful on their own.... diamonds are the perfect compliment.

Speaking of landscape, did you see the opal in his Arkenstone thread? It's a glorious egg.

 

[2Neesers]

Thank you, friend! I was actually thinking rubies to compliment the red, but ugh, I'd have to wait awhile to replenish my funds.

Rubies will be gorgeous!! I absolutely love opals combined with CS!
It‘s so nice to see the face behind the friendly comments. You are very pretty!!

Actually, I was thinking about the opal in my OP and how we view them. Most folks post a still photo of their opal at its best (like we do with most gems). I posted a video, which shows it at its brightest, but also at its worst angles. Anyway! Just thinking out loud, like Ed Sheeran.

I think this is so true about the CS forum. Most of us want to share pictures of our stones looking their very best and showing off for the camera. I’ve often thought about starting a thread called ”Show me your CS looking their best and their worst”. If a person has been collecting CS long enough, they understand most stones don‘t look amazing 100% of the time. I sometimes wonder if our pictures showing stones only at their best is setting newbies up for disappointment or with unrealistic expectations.

 

[icy_jade]

pictures showing stones only at their best

I don’t think all of us do that… at least I don’t think I consistently only show my stones at their best. If I tried to do that, I don’t think I’ll be able to post many photos given how I take bling pics

 

[yssie]

I would disagree pretty strongly.

There are probably tens of thousands of posts with “vendor photos and here’s what I got”, “help me highlight/diminish this property of my stone”, “here’s what I want but I haven’t the budget for it, how’s this stack up”, “let me compare my stones in X lighting”.

It’s what makes PS special.

Even those of us who do pose our gems and take “glam shots”, if that’s all we were sharing there would be cause for concern, but far from it.

But if there’s something that consistently comes up as a gotcha I think a dedicated thread is a fantastic idea. The pearls subforum has a thread like this for Tahitians because they’re *so* shifty, and that thread is huge and has been super popular for years.

 

[2Neesers]

I don’t think all of us do that… at least I don’t think I consistently only show my stones at their best. If I tried to do that, I don’t think I’ll be able to post many photos given how I take bling pics

I don’t think all of you do it either. That’s why I first said “Most of us want to share pictures of our stones looking their very best and showing off for the camera”. I think most of us want to show our stones looking their best. I do.
Where I live we experience four full seasons, with 6 months of mostly gloomy skies. My stones don‘t look nearly as nice in the winter lighting as they do in the summer. You would think some of my stones that look great in pictures in natural summer lighting were unattractive if you only saw pictures of them in gloomy natural winter lighting.

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

I bought a diamond and emerald target ring last spring from eBay for an awesome price, but when I got it, it was obvious that the setting and stone were not originally together because the diamond was mounted above the setting, not around the girdle. Not really returnable, so I pivoted. Sent the diamond to Gia, and have been working on a setting for it, because the vintage emerald target could not be massaged to work. I am looking for an 11 mm round opal to mount in the emerald target—I have held a few opals up to it, and they really pop. Red and green are complementary colors, so rubies or emeralds could work.

I know you prefer untreated stones, OP, but tsavorites could work, too. It’s the intensity of color that needs to match.

Just a thought!

 

[icy_jade]

I don’t think all of you do it either. That’s why I first said “Most of us want to share pictures of our stones looking their very best and showing off for the camera”. I think most of us want to show our stones looking their best. I do.
Where I live we experience four full seasons, with 6 months of mostly gloomy skies. My stones don‘t look nearly as nice in the winter lighting as they do in the summer. You would think some of my stones that look great in pictures in natural summer lighting were unattractive if you only saw pictures of them in gloomy natural winter lighting.

Ah, I live in a tropical country so I guess I don’t really face the same issue with gloomy weather. I do however spend a lot of time in crappy office/fluorescent lighting (cos work) and do prefer wearing stones that still look ok under those lights.

 

[LilAlex]

I do however spend a lot of time in crappy office/fluorescent lighting (cos work) and do prefer wearing stones that still look ok under those lights.

Yes! My rings have to pass the office fluorescents test -- and the giant-windows-with-nothing-but-gray-outside test! I've bought things and not seen them in full sun for weeks or even months. (Maybe that's why I've never bought a ruby. )

 

[yssie]

Yes! My rings have to pass the office fluorescents test -- and the giant-windows-with-nothing-but-gray-outside test! I've bought things and not seen them in full sun for weeks or even months. (Maybe that's why I've never bought a ruby. )

Your wife needs more pearls.

Black and crystal opals seem to do phenomenally under fluorescents actually. I must say. My unfinished basement with those long ceiling tubes is my opal boudoir. Makes pretty much every other stone look pitiful. ::Shrug::

 

[icy_jade]

Yes! My rings have to pass the office fluorescents test -- and the giant-windows-with-nothing-but-gray-outside test! I've bought things and not seen them in full sun for weeks or even months. (Maybe that's why I've never bought a ruby. )

Wouldn’t silky rubies still look good in that condition?

 

[icy_jade]

Old thread but interesting discussion on how different gems look under different lighting

Since so many gems have a color shift or change that some people deem less desirable, this thread is devoted to your less moody gems, the ones that look great in cloudy weather, sunlight, fluorescent light, other incandescent/artificial light. I’ll start with one of my moonstones. When fine quality, these very underrated gems have so much to offer. I love them!!!!

 

[yssie]

Okay. One more comment from me. This is for others reading this thread who might be interested in buying their own opals.

Good lighting for opals tends to be pretty universal I think. But bad lighting is actually quite hard to define. There is no one “worst” lighting, outside of no light at all, because different lighting environments bring out and subdue different characteristics. Exactly what @icy_jade was referring to.

When buying opals these are the three photos I always request for myself, and what I would recommend to anyone else buying internationally:
1. Glam pics/video in their studio set up (this is usually what’s used for the listing).
2. Photos/video outdoors in sunlight. With the stone on the hand. It’s Australia, if it’s not sunny the day you ask, it will be within the week
3. Photos/video outdoors on a cloudy day or inside in the shade right beside a window.
A dim lighting video can be a curiosity but it’s of tertiary utility - as Autumn points out noone’s looking at their gems in the dark. With diamonds, their sole reason for existence is to I take ambient light and spit it back out, so dim lighting performance can be useful. Opals, no so much. So, only potentially interesting after these other three lighting environments have been satisfied - and at that point, if you’ve found a stone whose personality you love in those three lighting conditions, jump on it and don’t look back!!

Beware photos all taken with the stone facing the same direction. Also beware videos unless they can be remitted to you with reasonable fidelity (email, iMessage). you don’t want to be relying solely on IG/WhatsApp/free Vimeo vids, the compression is real and will mask things you want to see. None of these are problems you’ll encounter with reputable vendors obviously.

Now for the tricky part. Cameras in phones. Every single one of them will blow out the brights in the right(wrong) lighting environments. What I mean is… When you look at photos or videos of opals taken with a phone camera, you’ll see artefacts like this… Showing with my own cuties lol. Those splotches where the colours look “painted” on, super super vivid? Those aren’t real. That’s just the phone camera image interpretation software getting confused. Happens in both stills and videos. I’ve got three different brands of phone camera in my house (and this pic is from Caysie, fourth brand) and different brands/years tend to blow out different colours first. Because of course nothing is ever simple I point this out because even vendors who use studio setups with #RealCameras will probably take the additional pics you ask for with their phones, so it’s helpful to be able to mentally remove the noise.




Also… For Australian opal, at least, remember that they’re all coming from basically one place. Lots of vendors working from a few sources. Of course some of those vendors are bigger, some have higher overhead, some have higher pricing in general, but they’re all getting their products from basically the same places. So when you’re searching, if you see what looks like dramatic differences in quality for price… Keep in mind that if an amazing product could be sold at a low price, those higher-cost vendors would be out of business. There is always compromise for price and if something looks too good to be true then it definitely is. Again, nothing new here and not a concern when buying from a reputable vendor. There’s a lot of questionable opal out there.

For what it’s worth I’m loyal to Black Opal Direct and M’s Opal World. Both have treated me very well over the years.

 

[LLJsmom]

Okay. One more comment from me. This is for others reading this thread who might be interested in buying their own opals.

Good lighting for opals tends to be pretty universal I think. But bad lighting is actually quite hard to define. There is no one “worst” lighting, outside of no light at all, because different lighting environments bring out and subdue different characteristics. Exactly what @icy_jade was referring to.

When buying opals these are the three photos I always request for myself, and what I would recommend to anyone else buying internationally:
1. Glam pics/video in their studio set up (this is usually what’s used for the listing).
2. Photos/video outdoors in sunlight. With the stone on the hand. It’s Australia, if it’s not sunny the day you ask, it will be within the week
3. Photos/video outdoors on a cloudy day or inside in the shade right beside a window.
A dim lighting video can be a curiosity but it’s of tertiary utility - as Autumn points out noone’s looking at their gems in the dark. With diamonds, their sole reason for existence is to I take ambient light and spit it back out, so dim lighting performance can be useful. Opals, no so much. So, only potentially interesting after these other three lighting environments have been satisfied - and at that point, if you’ve found a stone whose personality you love in those three lighting conditions, jump on it and don’t look back!!

Beware photos all taken with the stone facing the same direction. Also beware videos unless they can be remitted to you with reasonable fidelity (email, iMessage). you don’t want to be relying solely on IG/WhatsApp/free Vimeo vids, the compression is real and will mask things you want to see. None of these are problems you’ll encounter with reputable vendors obviously.

Now for the tricky part. Cameras in phones. Every single one of them will blow out the brights in the right(wrong) lighting environments. What I mean is… When you look at photos or videos of opals taken with a phone camera, you’ll see artefacts like this… Showing with my own cuties lol. Those splotches where the colours look “painted” on, super super vivid? Those aren’t real. That’s just the phone camera image interpretation software getting confused. Happens in both stills and videos. I’ve got three different brands of phone camera in my house (and this pic is from Caysie, fourth brand) and different brands/years tend to blow out different colours first. Because of course nothing is ever simple I point this out because even vendors who use studio setups with #RealCameras will probably take the additional pics you ask for with their phones, so it’s helpful to be able to mentally remove the noise.




Also… For Australian opal, at least, remember that they’re all coming from basically one place. Lots of vendors working from a few sources. Of course some of those vendors are bigger, some have higher overhead, some have higher pricing in general, but they’re all getting their products from basically the same places. So when you’re searching, if you see what looks like dramatic differences in quality for price… Keep in mind that if an amazing product could be sold at a low price, those higher-cost vendors would be out of business. There is always compromise for price and if something looks too good to be true then it definitely is. Again, nothing new here and not a concern when buying from a reputable vendor. There’s a lot of questionable opal out there.

For what it’s worth I’m loyal to Black Opal Direct and M’s Opal World. Both have treated me very well over the years.

Thank you so much @yssie. Your post is so informative and important because you’re so specific and honest about the good and the bad. I will save this post as I keep pining after opals. I’ll have one of these beauties one day.

 

[LLJsmom]

I would disagree pretty strongly.

There are probably tens of thousands of posts with “vendor photos and here’s what I got”, “help me highlight/diminish this property of my stone”, “here’s what I want but I haven’t the budget for it, how’s this stack up”, “let me compare my stones in X lighting”.

It’s what makes PS special.

Even those of us who do pose our gems and take “glam shots”, if that’s all we were sharing there would be cause for concern, but far from it.

But if there’s something that consistently comes up as a gotcha I think a dedicated thread is a fantastic idea. The pearls subforum has a thread like this for Tahitians because they’re *so* shifty, and that thread is huge and has been super popular for years.

I love your pearl threads because they show the same pearl in so many different lighting environments and photos using various picture taking methods. Helped greatly in understanding the reality of what you’re buying. Would be so interesting to have a dedicated thread on “when my diamond is having an ugly day”…

 

[LilAlex]

Those splotches where the colours look “painted” on, super super vivid? Those aren’t real. That’s just the phone camera image interpretation software getting confused. Happens in both stills and videos.

This is so true! One DD is a fine (amateur) photographer and she hates how her new iPhone does whatever it wants -- or whatever it thinks we want -- with photos. Me, too, but I never use it for real photos.

As an example, I recently took a quick phone photo (13 mini) of a lovely, subtle rainbow-like projection on a wall -- sunlight was hitting a faceted glass (?) bead on something one of the kids had made in elementary school. The "art" was in another room and this looked like a pretty little six-inch rainbow.

The photo makes it look like a rainbow sticker slapped on the wall. It was so garish and unreal that I saved it as a reminder

 

[LLJsmom]

Okay. One more comment from me. This is for others reading this thread who might be interested in buying their own opals.

Good lighting for opals tends to be pretty universal I think. But bad lighting is actually quite hard to define. There is no one “worst” lighting, outside of no light at all, because different lighting environments bring out and subdue different characteristics. Exactly what @icy_jade was referring to.

When buying opals these are the three photos I always request for myself, and what I would recommend to anyone else buying internationally:
1. Glam pics/video in their studio set up (this is usually what’s used for the listing).
2. Photos/video outdoors in sunlight. With the stone on the hand. It’s Australia, if it’s not sunny the day you ask, it will be within the week
3. Photos/video outdoors on a cloudy day or inside in the shade right beside a window.
A dim lighting video can be a curiosity but it’s of tertiary utility - as Autumn points out noone’s looking at their gems in the dark. With diamonds, their sole reason for existence is to I take ambient light and spit it back out, so dim lighting performance can be useful. Opals, no so much. So, only potentially interesting after these other three lighting environments have been satisfied - and at that point, if you’ve found a stone whose personality you love in those three lighting conditions, jump on it and don’t look back!!

Beware photos all taken with the stone facing the same direction. Also beware videos unless they can be remitted to you with reasonable fidelity (email, iMessage). you don’t want to be relying solely on IG/WhatsApp/free Vimeo vids, the compression is real and will mask things you want to see. None of these are problems you’ll encounter with reputable vendors obviously.

Now for the tricky part. Cameras in phones. Every single one of them will blow out the brights in the right(wrong) lighting environments. What I mean is… When you look at photos or videos of opals taken with a phone camera, you’ll see artefacts like this… Showing with my own cuties lol. Those splotches where the colours look “painted” on, super super vivid? Those aren’t real. That’s just the phone camera image interpretation software getting confused. Happens in both stills and videos. I’ve got three different brands of phone camera in my house (and this pic is from Caysie, fourth brand) and different brands/years tend to blow out different colours first. Because of course nothing is ever simple I point this out because even vendors who use studio setups with #RealCameras will probably take the additional pics you ask for with their phones, so it’s helpful to be able to mentally remove the noise.




Also… For Australian opal, at least, remember that they’re all coming from basically one place. Lots of vendors working from a few sources. Of course some of those vendors are bigger, some have higher overhead, some have higher pricing in general, but they’re all getting their products from basically the same places. So when you’re searching, if you see what looks like dramatic differences in quality for price… Keep in mind that if an amazing product could be sold at a low price, those higher-cost vendors would be out of business. There is always compromise for price and if something looks too good to be true then it definitely is. Again, nothing new here and not a concern when buying from a reputable vendor. There’s a lot of questionable opal out there.

For what it’s worth I’m loyal to Black Opal Direct and M’s Opal World. Both have treated me very well over the years.

Ohhhhh…..so this is what you mean. I’m amazed that you can pinpoint exactly what “isn’t real”. Yes. I can see why all those various pics would be crucial. Now that I think about it BOD did send me various pics as i asked, thanks to you. Too bad the timing wasn’t right for me at that point. Their opals are so stunning…

 

[LLJsmom]

I’m a boring diamond halo person… but honestly I think diamonds frame up opals nicely to let their colors shine.

So true @icy_jade. I don’t think it’s boring. Diamond halos around colored stones just work. Like your collection, which is jaw dropping, literally. And @yssie’s glamorous and stunning drop opal earrings. I could have stared at those for hours, the color play on those opals, alive and teasing. @yssie I do love your honest assessment of them. But they are heirloom pieces. Forever.

 

[fredflintstone]

Okay. One more comment from me. This is for others reading this thread who might be interested in buying their own opals.

Good lighting for opals tends to be pretty universal I think. But bad lighting is actually quite hard to define. There is no one “worst” lighting, outside of no light at all, because different lighting environments bring out and subdue different characteristics. Exactly what @icy_jade was referring to.

When buying opals these are the three photos I always request for myself, and what I would recommend to anyone else buying internationally:
1. Glam pics/video in their studio set up (this is usually what’s used for the listing).
2. Photos/video outdoors in sunlight. With the stone on the hand. It’s Australia, if it’s not sunny the day you ask, it will be within the week
3. Photos/video outdoors on a cloudy day or inside in the shade right beside a window.
A dim lighting video can be a curiosity but it’s of tertiary utility - as Autumn points out noone’s looking at their gems in the dark. With diamonds, their sole reason for existence is to I take ambient light and spit it back out, so dim lighting performance can be useful. Opals, no so much. So, only potentially interesting after these other three lighting environments have been satisfied - and at that point, if you’ve found a stone whose personality you love in those three lighting conditions, jump on it and don’t look back!!

Beware photos all taken with the stone facing the same direction. Also beware videos unless they can be remitted to you with reasonable fidelity (email, iMessage). you don’t want to be relying solely on IG/WhatsApp/free Vimeo vids, the compression is real and will mask things you want to see. None of these are problems you’ll encounter with reputable vendors obviously.

Now for the tricky part. Cameras in phones. Every single one of them will blow out the brights in the right(wrong) lighting environments. What I mean is… When you look at photos or videos of opals taken with a phone camera, you’ll see artefacts like this… Showing with my own cuties lol. Those splotches where the colours look “painted” on, super super vivid? Those aren’t real. That’s just the phone camera image interpretation software getting confused. Happens in both stills and videos. I’ve got three different brands of phone camera in my house (and this pic is from Caysie, fourth brand) and different brands/years tend to blow out different colours first. Because of course nothing is ever simple I point this out because even vendors who use studio setups with #RealCameras will probably take the additional pics you ask for with their phones, so it’s helpful to be able to mentally remove the noise.




Also… For Australian opal, at least, remember that they’re all coming from basically one place. Lots of vendors working from a few sources. Of course some of those vendors are bigger, some have higher overhead, some have higher pricing in general, but they’re all getting their products from basically the same places. So when you’re searching, if you see what looks like dramatic differences in quality for price… Keep in mind that if an amazing product could be sold at a low price, those higher-cost vendors would be out of business. There is always compromise for price and if something looks too good to be true then it definitely is. Again, nothing new here and not a concern when buying from a reputable vendor. There’s a lot of questionable opal out there.

For what it’s worth I’m loyal to Black Opal Direct and M’s Opal World. Both have treated me very well over the years.

The worst light is diffused light outside on a cloud covered day. It will dim (washout) any opal's colors. But funny enough, that same diffused lighting coming through a window indoors and the Opal looks great.

Just never judge an Opal from a video taken outdoors on a cloud covered day and always ask for a video, never buy an Opal from pictures, Pictures never tell the whole story on Opal, and for that matter, colored gemstones.

 

[yssie]

diffused light outside on a cloud covered day. It will dim (washout) any opal's colors. But funny enough, that same diffused lighting coming through a window indoors and the Opal looks great.

This is a really good point to highlight. Thanks. Directional lighting makes at least black/dark and crystal opals sing!! (Whites seem to care less? I don't have an answer.) Even directional diffuse lighting. If it's a big window, there's no overhang, and you're right next to it, it's a reasonable approximation of being outdoors IMO - especially on a bright sunny day. But move even a few steps away from the window into the room and turn that "diffuse but bl**dy bright overhead" into "directional and softer" and... Multiple personalities strike again

 

[Autumn in New England]

Rubies will be gorgeous!! I absolutely love opals combined with CS!
It‘s so nice to see the face behind the friendly comments. You are very pretty!!

I think this is so true about the CS forum. Most of us want to share pictures of our stones looking their very best and showing off for the camera. I’ve often thought about starting a thread called ”Show me your CS looking their best and their worst”. If a person has been collecting CS long enough, they understand most stones don‘t look amazing 100% of the time. I sometimes wonder if our pictures showing stones only at their best is setting newbies up for disappointment or with unrealistic expectations.

Some folks are really good about showing their gems honestly, worts and all. And then, understandably, some tend to just post glamour shots. I've certainly been guilty of this, as I often post vendor photos/videos (simply because my z-flip camera is horrendous and I'm generally lazy). But I definitely agree that neophytes will sometimes chase unattainable (or at least, out of reach) gem goals because of this.

ETA: Thank you for the lovely compliment, my friend!!

 

[Autumn in New England]

Wow, you guys have been busy... great discussion! I'll have to catch up later!! xo

 

[dori2002]

Here is my two cents. This is a Boulder opal I just purchased. The ring is from a Japanese jeweler named Tasaki. No matter how many pictures I take, it does not look anything like what it looks like in person. I saw it in person.


and bought immediately.

 

[icy_jade]

So true @icy_jade. I don’t think it’s boring. Diamond halos around colored stones just work. Like your collection, which is jaw dropping, literally

Thank you so much for your lovely compliment

 

[landscape]

1、Opals under light are very different from those under natural light, so be sure to look at pictures or videos in natural light when buying opals online. 2、The true red play-of-color of black opal is extremely rare, most of the so-called red is orange, pay attention to distinguish. 3、The play-of-color of most opals is not clear under natural light. If you can see clear colored patches under natural light, it will have a very amazing performance under the light.4、 The same opal below is under led lights and Natural light by the interior window, this is a true red-colored opal, not orange

 

[yssie]

Opals under light are very different from those under natural light, so be sure to look at pictures or videos in natural light when buying opals online. The true red play-of-color of black opal is extremely rare, most of the so-called red is orange, pay attention to distinguish The play-of-color of most opals is not clear under natural light. If you can see clear colored patches under natural light, it will have a very amazing performance under the light. The same opal below is under led lights and Natural light by the interior window, this is a true red-colored opal, not orange

 

[Starstruck8]

This is a really good point to highlight. Thanks. Directional lighting makes at least black/dark and crystal opals sing!! (Whites seem to care less? I don't have an answer.) Even directional diffuse lighting. If it's a big window, there's no overhang, and you're right next to it, it's a reasonable approximation of being outdoors IMO - especially on a bright sunny day. But move even a few steps away from the window into the room and turn that "diffuse but bl**dy bright overhead" into "directional and softer" and... Multiple personalities strike again

This is not really a mystery (except for the bit about white opals...). Opals are intrinsically directional. For the stone and viewpoint fixed, for each position on the stone, there is a small range of magic lighting angles at which the position displays its best colour, and lots of other angles at which it doesn't.

In this video, the camera and stone were fixed, and the stone was lit by a moving flashlight. Different parts of the stone turn on and off as the flashlight moves. (Apologies for the unstoppable gif - I don't know how to upload a video.)

In a good stone (i.e. a better one than this...), different parts of the stone have different optimal lighting directions, So with any sort of directional lighting (whether hard and pin-like or soft but directional, some parts will be on, and they will show good contrast with parts that are off.

But with even, broad-angle lighting, the effects of the 'good' angles and the 'bad' angles are averaged together, so there is very little contrast. (If all the frames in my video were averaged, the result would be close to a uniform grey over the whole stone.)

I have to plead guilty to posting hero shots... This is the same stone in a shot I posted earlier. You can see by the shadow that the lighting is softly directional.


I'm not sure why white opals should be different (if indeed they are) - they are not my favourites, and I have little experience of them.