For Seller

By: Bijan Aziz

Jewelry and gems, The Buying Guide

Colorful choices in colored Gemstones

- Opal
The opal has suffered from an unfortunate reputation as being an evil stone and bearing an ill omen. Ominous superstition surround this wonderful gem, including the belief that misfortune will fall on those who wear it. But its evil reputation has never been merited and probably resulted from a careless reading of Sir Walter Scott’s Anne of Geierstein, in which the ill-fated heroine received an opal before her untimely death.
Among the ancients, opal was a symbol of fidelity and assurance, and in later history it became strongly associated with religious emotion and prayer. It was believed ti have a strong therapeutic value for diseases of the eye, and worn as an amulet it would make the wearer immune from them as well as increase the powers of the eyes and the mind. Further, many believed that to the extent the colors of red and green (ruby and emerald) were seen, the wearer would also enjoy the therapeutic powers of those gemstones: the power to stop bleeding from the ruby or the power to cure kidney diseases from the emerald. The black opal was particularly highly prized as the luck stone of anyone lucky enough to own one!
This gemstone, whose brilliance and vibrant colors resembles the colors of fall, is certainly appropriate as a birthstone for October. When we try to describe the opal, we realize how insufficient the English language is. It is unique among the gems, displaying an array of very brilliant miniature effects, all mixed together.

Its most outstanding characteristics is this unusual, intense display of many colors flashing out like mini-rainbows. This effect is created by opal’s formation process, which is very different from that of other gems. Opal is composed of hydrated silica spheres. The mini-rainbows seen in most opals result from light interference created by these spheres. The arrangement of the spheres, which vary in size and pattern, is responsible for the different colors.

Opal is usually cut flat or in cabochon, since there is no additional brilliance to be captured by faceting. In opals, color is everything. The more brilliant the color, the more valuable the gem. It si probably truer of opal than other gemstone that more beautiful the stone and its color, the more it will cost.

The finest of all is the black opal. Black opals are usually a deep gray or grayish black with flashes of incredibly brilliant color dancing around within and about the stones as they are turned. One must be careful when purchasing a black opal, however, to ensure that it is nit a doublet or triplet, a stone composed of two or three parts of some material fused or glued together. There are many such doublets on the market because of the black opal’s rarity, beauty, and extremely high cost. The black opal doublet provides an affordable option to one who loves the gemstone but can’t afford a natural. But it also provides another opportunity for misrepresentation that can be costly to the consumer.

Generally speaking, purity of color, absence of dead spots (called trueness), flawlessness, and intensity or brilliance of color are the primary variables affecting value. Opals with an abundance of red are usually the most expensive; those strong in blue and green are equally beautiful but nit as rare, so their price is somewhat less. Some opals are very transparent and are classified as "jelly," "semi-jelly," or "water" opals. One of the rarest is the "harlequin" opal, which displays color patterns resembling a checker board.

While there are imitation and synthetics, for the most part their quality is such that they are not yet worth considering. The synthetic opal, nonetheless, is being used extensively. Also, since the color of black opals can be improved by treatment, treated opals are encountered frequently. So the usual precautions are in order: make sure you know what you are getting and before buying, shop around. This holds truer for opal, perhaps, than any other gemstone.

One word of caution must also be offered: opals require special care because some tend to dry and crack. avoid exposure to anything that is potentially drying. And, believe it or not, rubbing it periodically with an oil-moistened cloth; such as olive oil, will help preserve it. Do not soak it; soaking some opals for only a few hours can cause them to lose some or nearly all of their fire.

- Peridot
Today, peridot is birthstone for August, peridot was also a favorite of the ancients. This lovely transparent yellowish green to deep chartreuse gemstone was quite a powerful gem. It was considered an aid to friendship and was also believed to free the mind of envious thoughts. (Which is probably why it was an aid to friendship.) Because of yellowish green color, it was also believed to cure or prevent diseases of the liver and dropsy. And, if that’s not enough, if worn on the left arm it would protect the wearer from the evil eye.

Peridot is also popular today, but probably more for its lovely shade of green than its professed powers. While not particularly brilliant, the richness of its color can be exceptional. It comes in shades of yellowish green to darker, purer green colors. Unfortunately, because of its rarity most people never see peridot in the deeper, purer green color that is so prized.

Peridot is still widely available in small sizes but larger gemstones are becoming scarce, so prices are now fairly high for good quality material in higher carat weights.

Some caution should be exercised in wearing peridot. It is not a very hard gemstone and may scratch easily. Also, some stones; like green sapphire or green tourmaline, can look like peridot and be mistaken or misrepresented.

- Quartz
Quartz, the most versatile of any of the gem families, quartz includes among its members more variety and a large number of gems than any other three mineral families together. In the gem trade the old saying, "If in doubt, say quartz," still hold true.

The quartz minerals, for the most part, are relatively inexpensive gems that offer a wide range of pleasing color alternatives both in transparent and non-transparent varieties (from translucent to opaque). They are reasonably hard gemstones, and while not very brilliant in the transparent varieties, still create lovely, affordable jewelry.

Some of these gems have already been discussed, but we will provide a list here ( following article) with brief description of most the quartz family members.

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Bijan Aziz is the owner and Web Master for The Jewelry Hut.

http://www.thejewelryhut.com

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