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This may be a question for Reno Chris but some of you might have had some experience with this as well.

I recently had a customer who had dug up some opals at one of the pay mines in N. Nevada. She had gotten several opinions on what to do with them after she had found them. Everything from soaking them on water or oil for several months to years and leaving them in the sun, to doing nothing. The owners of the mine weren't much help. Is there a book or something that details the proper way to preserve them?

Digger Bob

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You can't preserve them if you want them in jewelry, but you can try. You can use/try OPTICON, it is a sealer, any sealer will work but the Opticon is the popular method. If the opals are cracking when they dry out, you're sunk for the long run. Since opal is natural, from shells, other organic material, it really depends on the deposit. If they are cracking, keeping them in water will really help to preserve their beauty, but once they come out of the jar they will crack. Sometimes these are made into triplets, with a clear cover and a dark base, glued together. Lots of fire in the good ones for much less money. Randy

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Hi

I am on vacation on a cruise to Mexico, but have brief internet access, so here goes:

It depends on where the opals are from. Nevad opal from Virgin Valley has a very high tendency to crack, and as noted it pretty much a matter of when they will crack and not if they will, if you have them in jewelry. If you dont cut them and keep them under water in a bottle, they will not dry out or crack.

You can try sealing them as acronn suggests, but as he notes, its a pretty iffy solution.

There is no magic answer for Nevada opal.

Chris

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Hi

I am on vacation on a cruise to Mexico, but have brief internet access, so here goes:

It depends on where the opals are from. Nevad opal from Virgin Valley has a very high tendency to crack, and as noted it pretty much a matter of when they will crack and not if they will, if you have them in jewelry. If you dont cut them and keep them under water in a bottle, they will not dry out or crack.

You can try sealing them as acronn suggests, but as he notes, its a pretty iffy solution.

There is no magic answer for Nevada opal.

Chris

Thanks everyone. I'll pass the info along. And Brenda, thanks for the loan of the magazine.

Digger

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Bob,

I have also heard that keeping them in baby oil

makes them look good and keeps them from not cracking.

Have you heard of Harliquin Opals? I saw some opals

from N. Nevada that had a black matrix, they were absolutely

gorgeous, and that's what the man called them.

This was in late 1978 and I have never seen any again.

all the best,

Flak

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