The complete guide to Ethiopian Opals

[@ThatOpalGuy]

very nice selection. Thanks for sharing.

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Thanks very much 👍

[@trieuquiFzQ]

I'm addicted to watching these videos. They are similar to Justins

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Thank you, that is a great compliment.

[@dougbarton4531]

Hello Luxury Opals Europe. I just found and subscribed to your channel. Very informative video, great presentation and beautiful rough too. I sure hope you cut and create more opal videos in the future. Maybe you could cut and polish a non-hydrophane opal and show us how it crazes/cracks over time while drying out. Thanks for this wonderful video. Very well done. Luxury Opals Europe rocks!

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Absolutely 👍

[@truongthanhEY5]

Awesome opals

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Thank you!

[@LâmÁnhSen]

I love love love opals

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

me too!

[@HạnhMinhSailes]

Those patterns look way brighter that Australian opal

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Both are amazing ❤

[@LươngHàDương]

What was the rate of crazing? I can see some fractures in that 300 carat chunk.

[@dougbarton4531]

Hey LươngHàDương. The non-hydrophane Ethopian opal (Crystal, Mezzo/Shewa) must be kept wet at all times or it will start crazing like inside of an hour. It will craze from the outside in as it continues to dry out. If left exposed to the air the crazing will eventually travel right through the stone and then simply fall to pieces if ever dropped or struck. Welo opal (hydrophane) is highly stable once cut and polished, even more stable than a cut and polished Australian opal (in my experience). I've cut and polished about 100 Welo opal gemstones in the last few years and to date not one of them has cracked. I've cut and polished about 20 Australian opals and to date about 80% have developed cracks, rendering them worthless. The cracks in the 300 CT Welo chunk will travel quite quickly through your stone once wet due to water absorption via micro pores. Cutting Welo on a wet wheel can split your stone in half if you're not careful. If you cut quick enough though on a wet wheel, you can grind them out, get ahead of them and halt the splitting process. If your finished Welo opal gemstone is free of all cracks and/or inclusions it will likely never crack or split if ever accidently wetted or submerged in water. I've sometimes jumped in the shower or washed the dishes, forgetting to take off my opal ring or pendant beforehand and never once had an issue while they dried out over the next day or two. Some cutters may suggest you cut Welo opal on a dry cutting wheel to minimize cracking/splitting from water absorption, but this is ill advised and a very dangerous practice. All opal is made of hydrated silica and accidently inhaling silica dust can lead to a progressive, debilitating and possibly fatal lung disease called Silicosis. Never cut any type of opal dry, even if you're masked up. It's just not worth the risk. Simply buy your rough Welo with minimal cracks/inclusions. I hope that helps. Apologies for the long winded reply, but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. All the best mate and happy cutting everyone!

[@mkdn-ff3tn]

im assuming if 80% of the aussie material youre cutting is crazing then youre buying from dishonest sellers and most likely coober pedy material. coober pedy despite being the opal capital of the world has high rates of crazing in its opal from some fields that some miners will still sell. if you buy stuff from white cliffs or andamooka, mintabie or lightning ridge this opal tends to be much more stable, especially andamooka, andamooka opal is extremely stable, the most stable on earth probably

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hello, I don't find any crazing in hydrophane opal. I do deal with fractures (some of which are clear in this video). However with the young opal which dealers refer to as crystal (must be kept wet), the rate of crazing is immense. Within a few hours of cutting the crazing will begin and slowly increase until the whole stone is ruined within 3 days. Best to immediately sand away any crazing as soon as it occurs to stop the process.

[@tobe2383]

I've got about 50 so called dark welo opals. Want to film them - difficult job, but very exciting. They have grey to blue mother/matrix stone around them. My experience so far is they dont care much about beeing in water. I have a few yellowish ethiopian opals with claycolour like matrix around. They almost suck the water. Their already yellowish colour became darker, a bit like amber. But the opalcolours are still there, turning more into yellow-red.

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hi! I know the difficulty filming as well. Do it in a dark room, indoors - put a light directly onto the wheel and the dark based opals will shine.

[@HanThaiCam]

there's barely any potch on those pieces so they will be almost all gem

[@PhùngThiênQuân]

Where can I source these type of opals? What's the cost per gram?

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

The price is dependant on the size, pattern, color and any defects in the stone.

[@roberaiffa123]

I can supply them to you brother

[@luuthaiEOX]

I really enjoy your videos. When will you cut that big opal?

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hello, thank you. I hope to work my way up to it. I have some big chunks well over 100 carat I'd like to begin with.

[@NghiêmTâmĐính]

What is the hardness on Moh's scale?

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

5.5 - 6.5

[@Opal_Spectrum]

good video ..but using the term "crystal" to refer to the unstable type (young Welo) is not ideal and should be avoided because it creates more confusion. While the "good" Welo is very stable, its hydrophane nature means it can absorb liquids when worn in jewelry, potentially causing damage.

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

I agree, I don't like it either. Unfortunately it is the standard way of referring to this material (especially by Ethiopian exporters). I always try to mention that it is in fact 'young opal' but people really cannot understand that. Would be great to have a solid term which is recognisable to the current market.

[@zionbound]

The hydrosphere uncut opals from wolllo.... how much do they go for? He mention 400ct inexpensive...

[@JamiYenThu]

I didn't know that Ethiopia had black opals, I want to see a cabbed opal

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hi, no problem I have a pile of them waiting to cut in winter. Will make a video of just Ethiopian black.

[@TruongHaiThinh]

Can I buy hydrophane opal in France?

[@LaiThuThao]

So if someone sells me a hydrophane opal will it shrink when the water evaporates?

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Yes it will. You won't notice any variation in size but weight will decrease by 10-15%. In rare cases some hydrophane can shrink by up to 25%. So my advice is to never buy opals wet.

[@______IV]

Been keeping an eye on Ethiopian opal for years, but I don’t think I’ve seen a legit Stayish opal for sale/auction. They’re always what looks identical to smoke treated Welo opal being erroneously passed off as Stayish. Also, do you cut your Welo/Wallo opal wet? If so, what percentage would you say permanently changes to opaque white body tone?

[@krackenagate5606]

where can i buy good AAA grade welo opals. Opal auctions welo opals are not nice atm

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

I recommend only purchasing a precise parcel where you see video of each stone beforehand. Typically opal is sold by the kilo. There are many reputable dealers but you can start with Mine to Market or Seven Resources

[@Kerrsartisticgifts]

Can you smoke those large Crystal opals?

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hello, tbh - I'm not sure. I've never heard of anyone doing it before. I have seen them dyed though.

[@ngokha8AM]

I heard they weren't stable

[@CaoTuyetBich]

Thick pieces

[@teodorkutzarov3866]

You need to REALLY CLEAN them. Upon that, and faceting them, they are kind of losing their main color. Thus change the prize ofc. Good Luck with these. Peace

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Hi, do you have any advice on pre-cleaning them of the clay? I tried putting them into an ultrasonic cleaner several times with no luck....

[@teodorkutzarov3866]

@LuxuryOpalsEurope Hi, i've just saw this. There are solutions, mainly technical ones. Gather investment in Dentist boring machine......At first just a variation of it, later secomd hand since they come expensive for sure. Now this with the right ends will give you the results. I'm using 0.08 boring tool for cleaning the inside of a tooth. It takes TIME, but you are keeping the color and the luster. If You try faster results, it is entirely possible to lose the color a.k.a the are becoming clear, and this isn't Great. Be very gentle, not to bore both sides. It is possible to break it. As for lubrication of the bore, i use soapy water...experiment on small scale, i don't heat them... leave on The Sun. Peace

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

@@teodorkutzarov3866 Thank you for the advice. I'll look into the machines.

[@DangTrucVi]

You have a lot of rough mate

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

I'm addicted to opals

[@EpicsodeOne]

''We don't need a videographer, uncle bob has a camera"

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

Good point. I've just finished filming a guide to Indonesian opals and only used fixed tripod 😁

[@librarypub4670]

ethiopians just sell them indans are the ones who treat them , we dont even know how to and no resources to treat or cab in the country, i am opal exporter, i know almost everyone in the business here trust me when i tell you we do not treat it here in ethiopia

[@LuxuryOpalsEurope]

No worries my friend. I love Ethiopian opals and it is easy to identify a dyed or heated stone

[@Arlen-s1y]

Hate to brake it to you man but that’s all Pyrite. Hah no I’m kidding… awesome stuff beautiful peace’s and good info