So, you all know I like opals...

[DiamondsAreForever]

I was reading posts and listening to my favorite gem shopping channel and look what they put onscreen. Thatsaladaopal!

[oldmancoyote]

Thatsaloadamoney...

[DiamondsAreForever]

I don't know, OMC.  Fourteen-five seems rather inexpensive for 229 ct. of opal.

[oldmancoyote]

Depends on the opal...

This - which is the stuff I used to go and collect about 20 miles from my home in Turin...



vs. this - a 1970s Cartier ring with probably the best opal I have seen in a long time:



I don't know what it is, but TV advertising always makes me think that whatever they picture is NOT what you get. There's no reason why it should be so more than with advertising on the internet, but I trust the latter and mistrust the former.

[clgwli]

It would be way too big for my wrist anyway LOL

I'm actually with OMC on this one.  I don't trust tv shows for good quality stuff like that.  I'd be hard pressed to spend more than fun money on something on one of those shows.  Like I bought a travel wedding set out of sterling and CZ years ago.  Looked fantastic on TV horrible in person.  Though one of the sets I obught from QVC was good.  To the point where a jeweler thought his diamond tester was broken when I took it in for a repair. 

In general I will say that's a lot of opal!

[DiamondsAreForever]

Wow, OMC!  That's a beautiful ring.  The raw material, however, does not look like gem grade. 
This particular jewelry channel does a lot of estate pieces, designer pieces (not remembering any name at the moment - migraine) and liquidation of stores that have gone out of business.  Their prices always seem a little high to me.

[dovesgate]

Oh wow look at the Cartier. My husband likes opals. When he was a child he used to be very into collecting rocks for polishing. Opals were his favorite due to the challenge.

[oldmancoyote]

The raw material is definitely not gem grade. It was a gem in terms of getting us out in the open and covered in mud, though.

[DiamondsAreForever]

The raw material is definitely not gem grade. It was a gem in terms of getting us out in the open and covered in mud, though.

With the cubs?  Awww, how fun that must have been.

DF and I had a ball when we were in Hiddenite, North Carolina digging in the dirt and sluicing in a creek.  It was dirty work and the water was cold (April), but it was really interesting to see what you could actually find if you look for it.

[oldmancoyote]

My cubs were not around. I was a cub then...

[firegypsy]

it is truly fun excavating precious things at a tender young age though, isn't it?  I used to LOVE the Herkimer diamond mines as a wee lassie.

[DiamondsAreForever]

My cubs were not around. I was a cub then...

How did you become so interested/knowledgeable in jewelry and gemstones, OMC?  What piqued your interest?

[Debangel]

My cubs were not around. I was a cub then...

How did you become so interested/knowledgeable in jewelry and gemstones, OMC?  What piqued your interest?

I'd love to know, too!  I was just attributing your extensive knowledge to the Soopergenius abilities conferred upon you by your avatar

[oldmancoyote]

I always found crystals and minerals pretty; I was picking up rocks and pebbles from the driveway at the age of 3 and going back to my grandfather (a chemist) for identification of those that sparkled. Growing up in an area that was relatively rich in minerals, day trips to various mines were possible, coming back with loads of mud and some nice stones. From that to gems, it is just a matter of budget.

Of course the avatar helps - though more than the avatar it is the userID...

[DiamondsAreForever]

I also found some rocks to be pretty, too.  At the end of the street where I grew up there was a park that had awesome clay to play with.  It didn't have nice, crystalized stones, but I was amazed when I found a quartz stone that was pink.  Peculiarly, I also found obsidian there as well.  Move forward a few decades and we found Emerald Hollow Mine in North Carolina.  I was amazed at the whole crystals - clear at that.  And the variety!!!!
Then, I found diamonds.

[clgwli]

DAF I grew up around a bunch of quartz as well.  I had quite the collection for a while.  I had a lot of white, pink and brown.  I love how quartz feels in my hand for some reason.  I think when my son is a wee bit older and can do w/o a nap, I will take him to the areas I collected in gradeschool and middle school myself. 

The mine in NC sounds awesome.  I'll have to look that up to se eif we could ever swing a trip while on vacation some year.

[DiamondsAreForever]

It was a bit out of the way for us from where we were staying.  Once it was featured on the Travel Channel's "Best Places to Find Cash and Treasure" their business picked up astronomically.  It was fun looking in the creek bed when there were only one or two other people around.  Not so much fun with dozens.