Questionhello, i have seen an opal beads necklace in portobello road, london, the price is sterling 12,00, i really like it,but not sure is that worth so much money to buy,can you tell me how can i identify the quality of this beaded necklace please, such as colour, weight,etc, thank you so much, xuening
AnswerDear Xuening,
yes thats quite a price , but without more information its difficult to say .Are the opals white , blue , crystal or black opals ? could be they are brown then they are definately boulder opal matrix.If boulder they brown and hard and should have colour veins thru them , in this case they could be very good quality. Thing is with beads is that a lot of material must be committed to make the beads, and the process is very wasteful. 1st cut into blocks then cornered then rounded then polished its a many step operation , sometime difficult to know what the result is until they are finished.Then the beads are to be drilled , some beads dont make it thru the process, inside the stone it may be soft or a flaw or have sand spots , the drill hole might chip when the bit pops thru , many many variables .Anyway , Boulder Opal beads are seriously stunning and could get up into that area , they have been producing boulder beads in Asia and they do look great . But I would say this is a tad xpensive . Next, they might be another type of opal , could be crystal beads, could be made from brazilian opal which can be jelly looking and clear maybe with some regular stripes ,they would look awesome . I doubt if they are Australian crystal as there is no opal like that being produced these days and if there was they would be more likely to cut stones from them .The might be black opals and that would be the most expensive of all .Infact Ive never even heard of a black opal bead necklace.It would be too wasteful . But it would also command a fair price... getting up there where your are talkin.The last is lab opal which looks incredible , Ive made some but they dont get too expensive . You really need to identify them to me and I will give you abetter appraisal as far as I can . Sneak by the window and take a digital shot and email me . One other possibility is that they are white and "antique" could be from "white cliffs" a long finished opal field which produced in the early 1900's or "Andamooka ""blueish crystal"long since mined out . If its still too much money and you can Identify them to me I may be able to find similar from my opal cutters in Asia ..saving you plenty .Also sometimes with jewellery you see something that just blows you away, you may find its a one of a kind ..:) then it trully is worth it . I hope that helps you . Personally I love opal beads , there is nothing like them , good luck best regards rod www.keadyopals.com
