- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
- Messages
- 27,486
My 2019 opalooza!!!! 
Last year @mrs-b posted her glorious opal ring, and enlightened me to a void in my own collection that called for quick remediation. Y'all know how that goes
I'd been thinking about having some 'formal' earrings made with OEC halos a la @soxfan's old cluster ring for a while. After talking with @mrs-b and seeing photos of her black opal, I knew that I'd want a black of my own... and after talking with @diamondseeker2006 and seeing photos of her white opal, I knew that I'd want a white of my own too. So we decided to throw everything together
Caysie was wonderful to work with as always!! This project wound up taking several months, but I wasn't in any hurry. Finalizing specifics of design didn't take long at all - Caysie's first sketches and CADs captured everything I wanted Manufacturing, though, was a bit of a comedy! Yoram's first batch of OECs was the wrong size. Then asymmetric seating we'd dreamt up to equalize face-up protrusion of the larger black and white opal pair (the black was ~4mm deep and the white ~2.5mm) didn't work as expected, so Caysie sent the black out for backside reduction surgery and recast the mounts. Then, at the end of production, the posts had to be re-aligned... Caysie kept me updated at every step, and I felt completely comfortable leaving all concerns in her hands as I was confident she wouldn't let anything slip through the cracks And apparently when you take "worried" out of the equation what's left is "funny" - I'm really not sure whether my amusement with both events as they unfolded and with her growing exasperation with events as they unfolded was appreciated
I love these earrings!! The stones, the halos, the combo of pink and white metal... They're perfect They're definitely special occasion pieces - I'm just lowering my bar for 'special' and making excuses to wear them
We decided on 14k RG and 14k palladium/WG to minimize weight - each earring comes in right around 4.5g. I always thought opals needed yellow metal, but the larger pair both have so much red - Caysie and I both agreed RG was the obvious choice! I'd originally requested genuine antique diamonds for the halos, assuming having stones custom-cut would be much more expensive - the latter turned out to be significantly less costly, and the stones have quite a bit of variance in faceting which is exactly what I wanted
Stone 1: 1.76ct Black Lightning Ridge opal, 8.5 x 7 x 4 mm
https://blackopaldirect.com/product/black-opals/1-76-ct-black-opal-gem-8-5x7x4mm/
Body Tone: N4
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Red
From Black Opal Direct
Bottom stone:
Stone 2: 1.16ct White Lightning Ridge opal, 8.7 x 6.6 x 3.0 mm
Body Tone: N7
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Red
Bought from MSOpalWorld
Stone 3: 0.6ct White Lightning Ridge opal, 7.5 x 5 mm
This rough was cut for me: https://blackopaldirect.com/product/opal-carvings/1-36-ct-white-opal-to-be-recut-for-jan/
Body Tone: N7
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Orange, Green
From Black Opal Direct
Stone 4: 0.6ct Black Lightning Ridge opal, 7.5 x 5 mm
This stone was recut for me: https://blackopaldirect.com/product/black-opals/0-80-ct-black-opal-triangle-gem-7x6x2-8mm/
Body Tone: N4
Brightness: B5
Predominant Colours: Red, Green
From Black Opal Direct
Halos
Bottom halo: 1.12ctw (16 stones) per earring - custom-cut OECs from Yoram F.
Top halo: 0.32ctw (16 stones) per earring - custom-cut OECs from Yoram F.
Last year @mrs-b posted her glorious opal ring, and enlightened me to a void in my own collection that called for quick remediation. Y'all know how that goes
I'd been thinking about having some 'formal' earrings made with OEC halos a la @soxfan's old cluster ring for a while. After talking with @mrs-b and seeing photos of her black opal, I knew that I'd want a black of my own... and after talking with @diamondseeker2006 and seeing photos of her white opal, I knew that I'd want a white of my own too. So we decided to throw everything together
Caysie was wonderful to work with as always!!
This project wound up taking several months, but I wasn't in any hurry. Finalizing specifics of design didn't take long at all - Caysie's first sketches and CADs captured everything I wanted Manufacturing, though, was a bit of a comedy! Yoram's first batch of OECs was the wrong size. Then asymmetric seating we'd dreamt up to equalize face-up protrusion of the larger black and white opal pair (the black was ~4mm deep and the white ~2.5mm) didn't work as expected, so Caysie sent the black out for backside reduction surgery and recast the mounts. Then, at the end of production, the posts had to be re-aligned... Caysie kept me updated at every step, and I felt completely comfortable leaving all concerns in her hands as I was confident she wouldn't let anything slip through the cracks And apparently when you take "worried" out of the equation what's left is "funny" - I'm really not sure whether my amusement with both events as they unfolded and with her growing exasperation with events as they unfolded was appreciated I love these earrings!! The stones, the halos, the combo of pink and white metal... They're perfect
They're definitely special occasion pieces - I'm just lowering my bar for 'special' and making excuses to wear them We decided on 14k RG and 14k palladium/WG to minimize weight - each earring comes in right around 4.5g. I always thought opals needed yellow metal, but the larger pair both have so much red - Caysie and I both agreed RG was the obvious choice! I'd originally requested genuine antique diamonds for the halos, assuming having stones custom-cut would be much more expensive - the latter turned out to be significantly less costly, and the stones have quite a bit of variance in faceting which is exactly what I wanted
Stone 1: 1.76ct Black Lightning Ridge opal, 8.5 x 7 x 4 mm
https://blackopaldirect.com/product/black-opals/1-76-ct-black-opal-gem-8-5x7x4mm/
Body Tone: N4
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Red
From Black Opal Direct
Bottom stone:
Stone 2: 1.16ct White Lightning Ridge opal, 8.7 x 6.6 x 3.0 mm
Body Tone: N7
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Red
Bought from MSOpalWorld
Stone 3: 0.6ct White Lightning Ridge opal, 7.5 x 5 mm
This rough was cut for me: https://blackopaldirect.com/product/opal-carvings/1-36-ct-white-opal-to-be-recut-for-jan/
Body Tone: N7
Brightness: B4
Predominant Colours: Orange, Green
From Black Opal Direct
Stone 4: 0.6ct Black Lightning Ridge opal, 7.5 x 5 mm
This stone was recut for me: https://blackopaldirect.com/product/black-opals/0-80-ct-black-opal-triangle-gem-7x6x2-8mm/
Body Tone: N4
Brightness: B5
Predominant Colours: Red, Green
From Black Opal Direct
Halos
Bottom halo: 1.12ctw (16 stones) per earring - custom-cut OECs from Yoram F.
Top halo: 0.32ctw (16 stones) per earring - custom-cut OECs from Yoram F.
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The opals are just gorgeous, the settings are so meticulously perfectly crafted ... just amazeballs! Congratulations! 
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