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Welo opal necklace

pregcurious

pregcurious

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
6,725
I just received a welo opal necklace and have 10 days to decide on whether to keep it. I have attached the vendor photo, and a real life photo only to show the scale. I cannot capture the flash in the real life photo.

I am trying to decide on whether to keep it. The beads themselves look like the vendor photo in that the body color is white, and the red is the predominant flash color, which is really great. Most beads I have seen have a cream to yellow/brown body, and I wanted white. I also like the red flash, versus green which is very common. I have a good size welo opal pear that I will make into a ring, and I wanted to make a parure with a necklace and earrings to pass to by daughter. I think it will be a unique set for her to receive. I have a few things from my grandmother that are unique and I could not buy them today without great effort and/or expense.

The only thing that makes me hesitate in keeping them is that the overall look does not make as strong as statement in person as I thought it would. I am used to my round pearls which are much larger, and usually see chunkier gemstone bead jewelry. This look is delicate. If I keep them, I will have them put on a strand, and knotted like pearls.

It looks almost identical to this necklace. The price I paid was much lower:
http://www.sirensandangels.com/Ethiopian-Welo-Opal-Necklace-p/b201104056.htm

Comments? iLander, are you out there? I know you have a welo opal strand. Do you wear yours often?

weloopalstrand_50ct.jpg

img_0966.jpg
 
Opals are always going to look best against a dark background and less so on the skin. I've read advice here in the past to request a picture of the opal on the back of the hand to see how it would look when worn or set without backing. Size-wise, it looks a bit "youngish" and something worn for a fun casual outing. I agree that larger beads give a different look, something with more presence. It looks to be about the same size as the model's necklace in the link when worn. Not a huge statement piece.
 
Thanks, Chrono. I am happy with the bead quality in terms of color/flash, but you're correct that it's the size and lack of presence that is not selling me on them.

Has anyone seen larger round beads in welo opals (7-8 mm) ? I realize they may be much pricier than these.

Note: I am using a different computer than I usually use to view PS, and everything looks like it has an orange modifier on this monitor. Horrible.
 
I quite like it! It is not a huge statement piece but I love that it can be worn everyday.
 
You ask some really good questions. It seems that welo opal strands have been flooding the market recently and there are several reputable ebay vendors that sell them on a regular basis. That said, the greater the carat weight, the rarer the strand. I think you are close to what I see frequently size wise; as you know, there will be a considerable price jump for significantly greater carat weight. I agree that it looks lovely on you, in a young and innocent kind of way, like the first pearl necklace you receive if you know what I mean. They are very lovely, but delicate. It may be hard to have any kind of pendant on the strand without making it look a little overweighted, if that makes sense. In summary, while I think it looks quite pretty on you, it looks good as is. I don't think its big enough to be a statement piece.

So a couple of questions: do you mind graduated strands? What is the carat weight of the strand you have? Did the vendor have bigger strands?
 
Preg: one more thing: thank you for teaching me a new term, "parure." Lovely sentiment about your daughter as well. :))
 
I think these opal bead necklaces are very beautiful.
Opals must be moved to put on their colored light show, so it's wonderful to have several small opals moving in this way.

The only bad thing is the wearer can't enjoy them without a mirror.
 
minousbijoux|1363285538|3404843 said:
So a couple of questions: do you mind graduated strands? What is the carat weight of the strand you have? Did the vendor have bigger strands?
Click to expand...

I like both graduated and even-size strands. It is 50 cts. I think the vendor had 1 bigger stand, but the body color was either cream of light brown. The majority of the strands I see have a darker body color, which I dislike.

Has anyone seen any necklaces made of round/spherical beads? I have found a few vendors with perfectly round beads (up to 5 mm), but no full necklaces.
 
Thanks, Chrono. They are about the same size, but more expensive. Hmm.
 
Thanks, Chrono. Has anyone bought from either of these vendors? I know that there are treatments for welo opals, so I am a little apprehensive.
 
Sorry I'm of no help in vetting those 2 stores.
 
Minou and Pregcurious and anyone else reading,
Why is there such a huge price difference from $300 all the way up to $3000 for the bead necklace?
 
In general, within one vendor, you will see that the color of the flash, transparency, and body color correlates with price. It's similar to Australian opal in that way. I see a lot of welo opal that has yellow to brown body color. Cream body color can look white on a black background, but true white is harder to find. I always specifically ask about the body color. I've read different articles about the stability of the stone, depending on the body color, but I am not sure what the consensus is. There is another board for these types of questions, but I cannot link to it.

Unlike Australian opal, blue flash is rare in welo opals, and red flash is more common in welo opals than australian opals. Green or yellow flash seems to be the most common in welo opals, from what I have seen.

Between vendors, I assume that the the difference is price is because of markups. There's also treatment in welo opals.

You will see on many Ebay listings that the flash/body color/transparency are not matched well within a strand. It is not uncommon for less expensive strands to have beads with almost no flash. To me, there's no point in buying an opal without good flash.

What I have in my necklace is what I consider very good quality in terms of flash and body color, but the size and regularity in shape is lacking. As you can see though, when you go the larger sizes, the cost is much higher.
 
The ones that I have seen commanding the highest prices are 1) already finished necklaces - hand knotted with high quality clasps and embellishments; 2) finest quality stones typically with high percentage of transparency and color flash; 3) well matched stones with evenness of faceting and drill holes which gives it elegance and finesse in its drape; without the correct hole drilling etc, you have an inconsistent row looking bumpy and imperfect. Does that help?
 
Yes, my question pertains to the price difference between vendors. None of them mention treatment either.
 
Preg coming late to the party I'm afraid. I would most definitely keep them. I think they look much nicer than rounds AND this would look beautiful with either small silver or gold beads inbetween the rondelles or every third one or something. I've been debating whether to get a strand of these or not and I may well pull the trigger now! Keep them!!!!
 
pregcurious|1363268878|3404659 said:
I just received a welo opal necklace and have 10 days to decide on whether to keep it. I have attached the vendor photo, and a real life photo only to show the scale. I cannot capture the flash in the real life photo

It looks almost identical to this necklace. The price I paid was much lower:
http://www.sirensandangels.com/Ethiopian-Welo-Opal-Necklace-p/b201104056.htm

Comments? iLander, are you out there? I know you have a welo opal strand. Do you wear yours often?
Click to expand...


I'm here! :wavey: I tried to buy one of these strands online and it wasn't great. I ended up returning it, because the size of the beads were so small.

I think these tend to come in a couple of different colors; the paler, mostly white ones, and the golden toned ones. I've also seen a deep orange type which is very striking and I should have bought when I saw them.

This is my thread on my golden ones; [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/handful-of-rainbows-welo-opal-beads.183667/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/handful-of-rainbows-welo-opal-beads.183667/[/URL] I picked these because most of the beads had a red colorplay, but it was easy because I had about 7 of them in my hand to choose from. I found them at a bead show, do you have any of those near you? Try googling.

Do I wear them? No, I really don't. I have a couple of necklaces that I like better and I tend to choose those, so I'm not totally sure why I still have these. I guess just because they're pretty to look at. That's a good enough reason for me. :bigsmile: But I also think they won't be available forever. The welo find won't last forever, and it's plentiful and cheap now, but might not be in the future. I would hate to tell the grandkids that I missed it.
 
LD, iLander, thanks for your feedback. iLander, I like the size of your necklace much better. I don't think am going to wear these very much sadly. I also don't like the rondelle look--I've never seen it before in person. I'll let you ladies know what I decide.
 
Chrono|1363366263|3405625 said:
Yes, my question pertains to the price difference between vendors. None of them mention treatment either.
Click to expand...

The pricier vendors tell to have more uniform bead flash/body color/transparency, at least from what I have seen. I also assume there is an issue with treatments because I have read things on the other forum. I asked one vendor outright, but he evaded the question, and I did not buy from him. I am guessing there are treatments that will be well known in a few years.

To make a finished piece, I saw that I could buy a 14K gold clasp at my local bead store for ~$30, and stringing (silk or nylon thread) ranges from about $5-$10 an inch based on quotes I have gotten in my area (southern MD).
 
Hi Pregcurious,
Well, I don't know if it's going to help you decide, but you've just inspired me to get one! Thanks for bringing these beauties to my attention, I'd never heard of them before.

I think kenny's right that it's harder to appreciate them as a necklace, since you can't see them, and I like LD's idea about silver spacers. I'm planning to make a bracelet out of mine.

I think they're beautiful! Especially love the red flash!

Have you tried them over a black turtleneck? That would probably look stunning.

Good luck!
 
pregcurious|1363354584|3405524 said:
Thanks, Chrono. They are about the same size, but more expensive. Hmm.
Click to expand...

Would you be willing to share where you got them?

Maybe after you've decided whether to keep them or not?

Thanks!
 
I bought the necklace from Select Gem, and you can see 4 more like it online. The other strands have a tan or cream base, not white. It is a different look.

There are also multiple vendors on Etsy. The ones I bought are temporarily stranded, and need to put securely on a strand. Just add in the cost of a stringing when considering the cost.
 
Pregcurious, could you share the vendor you found who had individual round opal beads? I've been looking for a while for some. I have a dream of doing a tin cup style long necklace someday.
 
Rosebloom, I didn't write down any of their info. because I didn't think any were reputable vendors. I just bumped into them on the web. Select Gem is the only vendor I have considered so far, and they do not have rounds.

If anyone has sent any of their welo opals to AGL, can you let us know?
 
I ended up returning this to Select Gem, and just wanted to let you guys know in case someone wanted to pick it up. It's very white, and has decent flash, but the size was just too small for me to have enough impact. It is not listed on Jason's site, so you will need to contact him directly.
 
I'm sorry you returned it Preg. I bought this one for $70. I'm going to take it apart, add some small ruby (unheated) rondelles and silver spacer beads. I'll post a photo when I've finished it.

welo_opal_necklace_41ct_3_to_6mm.jpg
 
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