Featured Questions About Opal Ring

I took a chance on this crudely-made opal ring ($12 at a thrift store in Minnesota) and couldn't see any marks until I photographed it and saw what looks something like "14" with a teeny "K"?? I don't have a gold tester, so am wondering if anyone thinks it's a fake, or if you have opinions on whether it's a hobbyist ring, or maybe from India? It's about a size 6.5, weighs 11.1 grams, and the top part measures 24x18mm.

 

It is certainly impressive, and has an Asian look with those lotus petals. It looks like gold to me, and it could be 14k.
I don't think it is Indian, but further east, Southeast Asia.
That layering reminds me of Thai princess rings. The general look doesn't strike me as Thai though.

Just thinking aloud, Indonesia has opals, they are found in Kalimaya in West Java. Maybe your ring is Indonesian, and the opal a Kalimaya opal. Kalimaya's come in different colours, some are white. The most famous ones are black.

 

WOW !!!... One could DEFEND them self with that ring , It's LOVELY, .. Joy.

 

Very nice, think you got a bargain!

 

I appreciate your thoughts and opinions, Any Jewelry. And thank you to the others who commented. The little jewelry store that used to test jewelry for me closed, but I'll see if I can find another (or get a testing kit).

 

The ring immediately caught my attention, I only just noticed the price, wow! $12!
That is a serious chunk of gold, and the opal really looks like the cherry on the cake.

 

good eye....that could be the find of the year...so far !!!

 

No matter what it is...I like it !!!

 

Wowww!

 

Considering that I recently had cataract surgery and don't have prescription glasses yet, I guess I still have a pretty good eye (although I did use a $1 pair of cheaters).

 

the weight of it must have been a good sign too !!!

 

Yes, but I kept thinking about the opal not having much fire, the surface being kind of uneven, and the somewhat crude setting, and wondered who would have put that much gold into the ring. I've looked and looked online to see if I could find anything similar, but all the heavy/chunky 14k gold rings have a much more refined look and nicer opals.

 

do not despair ....... & find a good jeweler !!

 

Thank you for that advice. I live in a town of only 16,000, but there's a high-end jewelry design studio, so will call and ask if they'd test the ring for me. If I find out in the next few days I'll post the results.

 

This is lovely. Appears to be one of a kind. Look how much care was put into the number of prongs? WOW! Obviously, the opal was highly valued by whomever had it made.

 

Is there a overhead light reflection on the top of the opal?If it is not a reflection the stone should have had a bit more ground off the top as the lower area looks much better.The ring itself was poorly cast and has porosity and what looks like cracks in the photos.

 

You're right about the center top of the opal -- it is somewhat opaque. I wonder if it would be worth having a jeweler grind it down a little and re-polish. I don't think there are any cracks in the setting, just some elongated jagged pits from the casting process.

 

It could be part of a white matrix stone. If you grind that down you will probably still have that white streak. Your jeweller will probably know.

Agree, as you said before, crudely made. Which doesn't bother me in this case, this wasn't meant to be perfectly made.

Just to get an idea of traditional Indonesian lotus shaped jewellery, one of my pair of antique earrings, gold with spinels and black enamel:


The earrings were made for aristocracy, so they have all sorts of symbolism (restrictions), which doesn't apply to your ring.

 

Thank you AJ for the advice about the opal and also the picture of the earring. Now I know what you mean by Indonesian lotus shaped jewelry and can see the similarities in my ring.

 

Beautiful! Great find. I agree with the others as to gold and opal. As the opal I do have something that you might want to try.... Find a piece of leather. I use belt leather cut about every 6 or 7 inches in length. Buy a small amount of polishing compound (Lapidary shop) (Cerium oxide). Put a small bit of polish on the rough side of the leather and add a small bit of water, making a paste. Add more polish and water as needed. Rub the opal back and forth. This will put polish on the face and even the stone up a bit. This method works quite well on most stones especially well on the softer ones. I feel that this slower way of polishing takes the risk out of breaking (due to heat) or overgrinding. In other words it's slower but safer.