How to Buy Opals- A Guide to Buying Opals

Buying an opal is not an easy job, especially if you do not know much about opals. To make it easy and to help you make the right choice, here is a small guide on how to buy opals.

First, you will have to decide whether you want to buy a solid opal, a doublet opal or a triplet opal. A solid opal, though more expensive, is the real deal and is the best investment. Doublet and triplet opals contain only a thin piece of opal. These are relatively inexpensive and can be easily damaged, sometimes even by immersing in water. There are various kinds of solid opals such as black opals, semi-black opals, light opals, crystal opals and boulder opals. Of these, black opals are the best looking and most expensive.

Nearly all the world's supply of black opals comes from just one place in New South Wales, called Lightening Ridge. Black opals come in three body tones- N1, N2, N3. So if you are buying an N1 opal, you are buying the best variety of black opals available. If you are buying a N4 opal, you are actually buying a semi-black opal and if you buying a N9 opal, you are investing in a light or a milky white opal.

Crystal opals are more translucent and transparent than other types of solid opals. These opals are highly valued if they have a strong play of colours. A boulder opal is a cousin of the black opal, which contains an ironstone base.

Other Factors to Consider When Buying Opals

Opals have individual personalities, just like people. No two opals in the world are identical. The most important factor is the body tone of the opal. But there are many other factors to be considered as well. After all, the stone must appeal to you!

The other important factors are the play of colours, brightness, base density, colour intensity, the weight of the stone, the shape of the opal, flaws, the region where the opal was mined and finally the cost of the jewellery in which the opal is set.