Things to keep in mind while buying Opal Jewelry

1. Things to keep in mind while buying Opal Jewelry Opal is among the top five most popular gemstones in the world. Since Opal gemstone has a color changing property due to which it gathers attention of people, this is one of the main reasons for its popularity. Different gemstones have different properties and therefore there are different standards set to judge the value of gemstones, this enables people to check the standards before buying gemstone.

2. Gems and their standards

3. As diamond is the top most loveable gemstone usually people check them via its clarity, color and carat and then select the best mix of cut according to their budget. When we talk about ruby and emeralds they have some natural inclusions and hence their standard can be examined in the form of their inclusion.

4. Ruby and emerald having a good color saturation property is a good option to buy. When we are looking for metals like gold first thing we do is to check its hallmark 10 k, 14k or 18 k and then decide which one to go with.

5. But when it comes to opal it become a little bit tricky since this beautiful gem having a color changing properly looks almost similar to the color of rainbow. Opal also have different types and among these it is difficult to decide which one is of a high quality .To clear all these confusions there are three useful tips with the help of which one can easily define which one is a good quality opal.

6. Base body tone guidelines

7. Opal association has set some standards for opal stone that will help the buyer to identify the difference among different types of opals. So the best thing is to read these guidelines carefully and understand them before buying any opal. The term body tone refers to its color range from lighter to darker. While talking about body tone it is determined by checking its top and ignore the material that is at its back. For example for the black opal the body tone rank is from N1 to N4 similarly the rank is set for blue, fire and white opals.

8. Brightness of Opal

9. Another factor that evaluates opals is its brightness. To measure this there is scale which helps to judge this. The brightness of the Opal is measured in the form of 1 to 5 as • Faint • Dull • Bright • Very bright • Brilliant

10. The color of opal is affected by light, shape and the angle from which you are viewing this stone. The color of opal will be different when you see them in sunlight or under tungsten bulbs at that time an opal will display the warm tone colors therefore in order to see the original color of opal, the best thing to do is to check the opal on a sunny day. Place the opal at a position where the sunlight comes from your shoulder and does not pass through the opal. Meaning thereby that never judge an opal when it is in direct contact of sun or light.

11. Size of an opal The size of an opal is calculated in millimeters and its weight is measured in carats. Like other gemstones it should have a calibrated shape so that it can fit in any jewelry design therefore for opals the calibrated shape should be 0.5 to 1 mm. In gems the carat weight is measured from its thickness more the gem is thick higher the carat weight but in case of opal it is totally opposite. Opal will become less valuable gem if it is thicker because it becomes a difficult task to fit opal in the jewelry if it is thick.