Opal ? Real or not ? Any easy way to tell ?

[calis_stuff]

I don't have any real opal gems to compare and I'm out of my element.

I don't know if my gem tester would help, but my daughter has it right now, I don't recall an opal field on it anyway.

This pretty necklace has a round stone set into 14kt gold, marked 'M585' on the bale and clasp.

The clear stones are open back prong set.

The stone is perfectly round, no sign of layers, etc.

I realize it's very difficult to tell from a few pictures but maybe there's a give-away that someone sees that I don't.

TIA.

[hollyblue83]

Opals are hard to photograph correctly, there is too much light/reflection in yours.Just a guess with what I see...looks like Gilson opal which was set in 14K with diamonds at one time.

[charmaffair_2009]

Tia is probably right. no genuine opal was made in to beads later we believe  after the 1900's. you wasted too much good stone to do it. Charm

[hollyblue83]

No genuine opal beads?? Opal beads have been made for a hundred years or more and still being made today. Just for reference... austrailianopalmines dotcom.

[evelyb30]

My first instinct was synthetic, but who knows.  I've had opal beads before.  They were a mistake; I thought they were random gray stone/glass when I bought them in a thrift.  Then the opal flash showed when I was about to cut the bracelet up months later.  Oops.

[calis_stuff]

Thanks for the help Everyone.

[rain777blue]

I would say yes, based on the fact it is set in 14k gold and the clear stones could be diamond or white saphire (sp) And most of all it looks like all the white opals I have seen.. Just my thoughts.. 🙂

[calis_stuff]

I've been doing some reading up on opals, synthetic and natural. There's a lot of talk of a 'lizard skin' effect on the Gilson opals, I don't see that under my loupe with this. It also doesn't fluoresce with my UV light, which Gilson opals do.

Still researching though, I'm going to try and take a better picture with the light shining through so maybe that will help.

Does anyone know if opals register on a gem tester ?

[don-franciscos-sister]

If you have a Presidium, it does not test for opal. I'm in Australia right now, and have been getting a far more in-depth education on opals! Even folks who've been in the business for decades (including working in the mines) will tell you that the imitations are becoming extremely sophisticated.

I've seen plenty of fakes that do not have the "lizard skin" effect, so the absence of that is not a definitive test, unfortunately.

[flipping_treasures]

To answer your last question "any easy way to tell?"  I think you can safely say no.  And definitely not by a picture alone.

[calis_stuff]

Thank you for all the help !

I did want to add that I don't believe this is a newer necklace. It's in a vintage looking (maybe 1970's + or-) velvet box that looks like it may be original to it. I know boxes are changed all the time but this one has the indents of this pendant like it's been sitting in it for a long time.

Just a thought.

I will add it to my pile of jewelry to be taken to a jeweler for further info.

Thanks again ! 

[jfanchergems]

pretty sure that just about all, if not all, real opals fluoresce so i'd think there's your answer.

[idealgems1]

The lizard skin observation has to do with the columnar way synthetic opals are made.  It takes a little bit of practice to see it, but the play of color is more defined and regular than a natural opal.  Natural opals will have less regular and more random flashes of color, sometimes even in big flashes; they usually also have a slight amount of "junk" in them that can look like breadcrumbs or something like that.  The snakeskin pattern is seen most readily in a microscope with dark field illumination.

Check this link for some good info:  Synthetic Opal - Also Known as Lab-Created Opal (geology.com)

Careful, though, because a "harlequin" pattern of play in color is similar to the look of a synthetic, and that is a very treasured trait in a fine opal.   Also, fluorescence is always an indicator test, never a definitive test.