OPAL WITH FLAWS...

LOVE or HATE the 'Natural Flaw'... In any kind of gemstone, there's always something that won't allow the piece to be called PERFECT'. Have look at these opal loose stones!




As you can clearly see each comes with some clouded areas, dark lines, sand spots and non-colored parts...


But, that doesn't mean they are not beautiful or they are worth nothing. They are just not perfect, just like every human beings. With less flaws, it could usually be more valuable, more popular.....   but not as fun or unique!!

Some prefers opal with some kind of special 'CHARACTERS' so that they feel their opal is more memorable. And I do believe opals with a little detail (such as flaws or potch lines or sand spots, etc) can be more interesting to look at!!

What's your personal opinion?

xxxx     Malayvone

  

Triplet Opal

I’ve just realized that I haven’t really explained about man-made opal in this blog…

So today, I would like to talk about “Triplet Opal”.

According to the website of Opal association, Triplet Opal is “Thin slice of precious opal glued between crystal cap on top and black backing.”

In today’s market, some opal dealers introduce those Triplet opals as “Gem quality Triplet Opal” or “Authorized Opal”.

To be recognized as a gemstone, each mineral must be beautiful, rare as well as hard and last for a long time. Of course it must have formed  in nature with no assistance from humans. Therefore, I have to say, Triplet Opal is not accepted as a gemstone because they are made most of plastic with very thin slice of white opal. Of course, the beauty doesn’t last forever.

In a few years, the colour will start to fade away because water goes into the part which is glued. Also, the surface of Triplet Opal will get scratches due to being used a soft plastic cap.

Talking about a phrase, “Authorized Opal”, whoever has authorized “Triplet Opal”, the quality of Triplet Opal will never change…

I’ve seen a catch copy, “With just a little extra care of your triplet opal ring, you can enjoy the look of a solid gem opal”, on one of the internet shopping site. For me, it is nonsense…

Apparently, anyone will never confuse the beauty of Solid Opal with the one of Triplet Opal…

In conclusion,

“Triplet Opal is not a gemstone!!”

“You can’t wear Triplet Opal jewelry for a long time!!”

Triplet Opal is good for just an accessory because you can have good colour opal without spending much, but the value as a gem is much less than solid opal.

Please be sure about that…

If you would like to study more about man-made opal, click here.

See you next time!! xxx

Mayu

To trace a diamond and a black opal

Have you ever watched the movie named "Blood Diamond", starring by Leonardo Dicaprio?
You might know about the horrific atrocities in Sierra Leone and the long suffering of the people of Angola, and the movie is about "Conflict Diamond" , which have helped to sustain those African conflicts since the end of the Cold War.

Today, The international diamond industry has already taken steps to increase the diamond industry's ability to block conflict diamonds from reaching market. Although, their origin is difficult to trace and once polished, they can no longer be identified. This is a fact which we all have to think to encourage real peace.

Talking about Opal, it is not very difficult to tell "where they come from" on Black Opal. Because the field where we can find them is extremely limited, and also the annual ammount of black opal minded in that area is only a small.

So don't worry! There is no "Blood" when we mine Black Opal!!
(However, there is another problem for miners and opal dealers...)

Have a lovely evening...xxx
Mayu

Natural "HEART SHAPE"....

         

What an interesting FORM !!!


Have a look at this lovely BLACK OPAL in its NATURAL HEART SHAPE.



As you may already know how rare to find a quality piece with full face of color in Black Opal from Lightning Ridge, just like a picture showing here.....

It is already difficult to find one piece with bright color, so it's naturally very rare to find a beautiful piece with a good proportion ( ie. rounded / oval shape with high cabochon / domed ) as well !!!

But quality gemstone is desired to be kept in its maximum carat weight for its value, so to keep it as large as possible, sometimes you have no choice but to enjoy its natural shape like this!
This Black Opal has turned out to be in this shape simply because that's what opal cutter has left with, after chipping the sand clay & polished it to get only the colorful area.

It might not be how opal collector wanted it to be at the beginning, but nobody wants to lose its carat weights too..... therefore, here you are, not perfect but one can learn to LOVE this SHAPE!!!


This piece is just for someone who has a BIG HEART.
Enjoy your evening....   (^^)


xxxx   Malayvone

TOP CLASS OR NOT??

Why not 'BLUE' or other colors, instead of 'RED'...  ??????!!!!!???


There are many opal admires looking for the best quality in Australian Black opal and often ask me for "RED ON BLACK".

Yes, I do understand that VIVID RED COLOR is extra-ordinary, very rare and special if it's RED ON BLACK!!!

It's just difficult to explain to some opal admirs that there are not many GOOD RED available today and that sometimes other colors like vibrant Blue or Green can be as precious as Red...

Yet, some customers would still refuse to see other colors because they were told (by opal dealers) that RED is the only color that has good value. Really??

Like a picture here "Solid, Australian Balck opal loose", this is a top range in BLUE / PURPLE on black body, and I can assure you it's extremely precious & beautiful !!!!!!


Only those who can touch this will be LUCKY and HAPPY, and soon they'll learn to understand or see how lovely other colors are available to invest.
Please see our WEB  for more.....



xxxx   Malayvone

Opal in modern design

Some people say that the design of opal jewelry is always too old or traditional. Actually, it’s not!

 Opal has variety of colors and shapes and it is a lot of fun for talented jewelry designers to create an original design.

Our designer, Malayvone Souvannavong  has designed many modern jewelries and she’s won one of a very famous Opal jewelry design contest. She draws a picture as well.

She’s inspired by opal’s play of color (They are not for sale, sorry…).

Enjoy selecting the right one in a special design only for you!!

Have a lovely weekend xoxo 

MAYU

A MEMORABLE PIECE...

I guess this can happen to any "GEM DEALER"...  
that you'll always remember your 'first love'.

This particular item (one of my original designed item) was created for the "OPAL JEWELLERY DESIGNER'S SHOW" to exhibit at Lightning Ridge many years (about 7 years?) ago.

The show went great, my designed item (showing above) was very popular and my item had been selected as one of the very best in the 'Professional category' among 110 other attended opal lewellery designers.

Right after the show, this item was sold to an American customer who's "felt inlove on her first sight" and I had some sort of mix emotions at the time of handing my new baby (K18 WG & Diamonds, Boulder Opal Brooch/Pendant) over to her!!!

I still remember how this opal changes its color, the heaviness of an actual item and the brightness of its face!

Anyway, just missing my baby today.....that's all.
Have a lovely Friday everyone.


xxxx    Malayvone

  

A typical boulder opal

Good afternoon.

Some opal admier say that they enjoy the reflection of colours on boulder opal and I agree with that.

I introduce one of our beautiful boulder opal to you.

 

It is so boulder….

Without any strong lighting, its bright and vivid colors kicked by ironstone catch my eyes. It has a thick color bar on its unique shape and the play of color is just amazing, colorful, deep and shining.

Here is a video to see this opal.

Sadly, it is getting harder and harder to find a typical boulder opal nowadays.  So once a good quality opal is sold, we can't easily replace. I mean, we can find something similer, but not the same...

To have a look more detail of this opal, please click here.

Have a lovery evening.

Mayu

 

QUEEN OF GEM, or not...?!

Good afternoon!
See these opals in this picture, they are so beautiful, aren't they??
But to tell you the truth, they can't be sold as 'gemstone quality' because they're all 'damaged / cracked'.


Today, I'm going to clarify something about opal as "precious gemstone".

As you have learned in our EXPERIMENTS, opal is not easy to break or damage (especially Australian Black opal and Boulder opal). Some pepole still believe that opal needs to be soaked in water regularly as they tend to get damaged when dried or after been exposed in the heat...of course that's not true.

Anyway, what I'd like to share with you is that there are few ragile or cracked opals found in the mine, and we would never introduce those as 'gemstone quality' in our store. They are fragile because they contain too much water or too sandy (too much inclusions).
Sometimes they're deeply scratched or cracked while opal cutters get them cut and polished.... 
Only professionals and experienced gem dealers can see the condition of each opal and be able to tell which opal belongs to the "gemstone quality".

Once they are cracked, it would just become a 'personal collection' but never be a quality to sell or to introduce to our customers in this business. That's how we keep our reputation until now!

Sadly, there are many shops and many opal dealers don't care about their quality and explain the difference between high range to low range...(even when they are located in very reputable shopping areas, international airports or exposed online businesses).
And it is extremely confusing for all gemstone admires to distinguish the difference.

We've met many customers who's spend many thousand of dollars for cracked / damaged opals so please be very careful...

DO NOT select opals due to low prices or discout rates!! 

Do some researches, find the right dealer who can show everything and who you can trust.


To find more tips on; "How to buy a right one?" visit our website.

Such a beautiful day here in Gold Coast.
Hope everyone enjoys this weather.

Mayu

Stardust

Blue, Purple, Green.....
We find those colors more than red or rainbow.

On the other hand, if we say "blue", there is a variety of "blue colours" on opal, like vivid, soft, sparkle, and so on.

I love its blue colour because it make me feel like watching the moment of the birth of new stars into space...

Click here to see this Opal....

Oh, don't forget!! Opal is the birthstone for October!!!!

Mayu

GOLD COAST'S LIFE STYLE...

Having "BUSINESS" in Gold Coast can be good and bad....


As you can imagine, many people will visit Gold Coast and browse around Surfers Paradise & Broadbeach everyday.

The weather can never be so perfect (compare to other cities) and you don't need to worry about the raffics when heading for work every morning.

Things are pretty much simple, beautiful and relaxed here......   BUT !!!!!!!

One thing makes me wonder (lately) though,  is,
"I am in Paradise, very gladful for where I am, but how come I don't get much chance to walk around the beach & enjoy the sunshine like everyone else!!"


Love my profession, love talking to customers, love how time passes day by day but feeling I am missing something lately.....
Well, better consider going to the beach tomorrow (hahaha)!!!!


Have a lovely evening, everyone.


xxxx    Malayvone

WHAT IS TODAY'S BLACK OPAL PRICE?

A little coversation I had with a friend from Lightning Ridge Field the other day...

" I'll show you my new babies (Black opals) from the Ridge "

" Well, this is gorgeous! How much is it? "

" For you it'll be only, ....  xxxx $ "

" You must be kidding!! xxxx $$ ???!!!?? "

" Ofcourse, what do you expect! I have to cover the cost of fuel, the lease, travelling fee and cost of maintaining the machinery!!! "

" I understand your point, but if the miner's cost is so high, I won't be able to mark up anything... I need to cover the rent, the over head and a little profit to keep going "

" Well, too bad. This is my price and if you say it is too high, then there won't be any miners finding opals for you in future... "

" I don't mean to offence you, but could you please try to understand today's market value and not to be too greedy on our prices? "

" It's your job to tell customers the situation in opal mines, and make them spend more money on quality Black opals!!!! "

"    ..........   "


That was how our conversation went for about 5 ~ 7 minutes, and my friend left without being able to sell any piece to me this time. It's a tough job to make everyone HAPPY in this business....and please understand that "Good Black Opals" don't come easily!!!


xxxx   Malayvone

UNBELIEVABLY LOVELY TWINS.

Have a look at this lovely
"RED ON BLACK PAIR".


As you may be aware how difficult to find a piece of quality Black Opal in "Red Color" today, you can just imagine how much rarer to be able to see a perfect pair in "RED ON BLACK" like this!!



The carat weights of these Black opal pair is only about 2 carats (in total), but the preciousness & the value is so high....


Whether they're your 'favorite' color or not, it's up to your personal judgement and what you're going to do with these opal loosestones will be your own decision, but one thing I can tell you is that if you don't select them as a "PAIR", you'll regret for the rest of your life (looking to buy another to match)....


That's what quality Australian Black Opal is all about, my friend!!!



xxxx    Malayvone

   

FASHION OPAL JEWELLERY.

Here is one of our new designed item for a
"NEW GENERATION OPAL JEWELLERY".


It's in Silver, Opal color material and
Cubic Zirconias.
We are getting this items
(or something in similar designes...)
made at this moment to introduce to our new local market.


It's affordable, it's original and it's trendy!!!
Hope you will like my design....
Have a lovely day.



xxxx   Malayvone

Fishing day

Last Monday, we went fishing!!

It was very beautiful sunny day:)

So serious...for dinner!!

We cooked "Fish Tenpura". Ymmy!!

Our mum (boss's mother) made Laosian lunch for us!!

We had such a wonderful day!!

Mayu

A Boomerang Opal

Good afternoon everyone.

This solid boulder opal is very Australian because of its shape.
Don' you think it looks like an "  aboriginal boomerang" !?

It is always fun to find some image from each opals.

Please enjoy more with on our website!!

Mayu

Facebook shopping!

Hello everyone!!

I would like to share that we've just opened an online store on Facebook !!

It is very easy for you to check our beautiful opals and purchase them quickly & safely !!

Promotion campaign!!
For our Facebook fans we are offering 30% off for each items. To like or see our page click here.

Have a nice weekend!!

New Mini Bottle Pendants!

I hope everyone enjoying this beautiful day!

Finally, spring has arrived to Gold Coast after all these cold days…

Have any of you seen this new items in our store?

Our store has new line of Mini Bottle Pendants to show you : )

In these mini bottle, they have mixtures of Black Opal and Boulder Opal pieces with beautiful colors.   

These items are $25 each!!

By wearing this, it will bring you happiness and good luck. If you are looking for something memorable items from Australia, this could be great items for souvenir or the gift in affordable range. Although, we have lot more to offer you in our store around your budget.

You can also visit our website to see our beautiful Opal collections!

I wish you all to have a great weekend!!

Have a good afternoon!!

Tomomi

WHAT'S THE FUSS...???

Who said "Yellow Gold" is out of fashion??!!??

In most Asian Pacific, their trend seems to be all "White Gold" or "Platinum" when it comes to high end jewellery...but in Europe (including Australia), our customers are still admiring traditional style "YELLOW GOLD".

It might be because they like to wear many memorable items, such as their ancestor's enheritaged items, daily....Whether one's good or bad, you can be the judge.
I personally like both as long as the design complimise the centre gemstone!

So, are you a "traditional" or "modern" personel??


xxxx    Malayvone 

What a beautiful love

Few days ago, I said "Good bye" to my BABY....

They were a perfect pair of black opals with deep & bright colors.

The gentleman who purchased them is going to give them as a special gift for his wife. He took long time and did many considerations to choose a right one for his special lady... There is big "LOVE", and helping him makes me so happy!!

I love working here introducing very rare gemstone because I can see a lot of people who show me how much they love their loved one.....


Have a lovely night.
Mayu

"Le grand bleu"

What a beautiful blue......

Do you know the movie "Le grand bleu" which directed by Luc Besson?

It was a great movie. And when I see this black opal which has a combination of romantic blue colors, I think about the sad story of that movie; 2 men who were true friends and rivals at the same time since they were little, diving into the beautiful blue sea deeper and deeper with a dolphin and they never come back....

To see more details, please click here.

Have a lovely afternoon.

Mayu

OPAL BEAD BRACELETS !!

ALL THE HARD WORK FOR SUCH A LOW PRICE...

OK, I am not whining here but introducing this beautiful bead bracelet for only A$50 (more or less..) is like BARGAINING OUR OPAL & OTHER SEMI-PRECIOUS GEMSTONE!!!

Can you see pink colored copper beads? Our staff has to make it into a rounded shape (each takes about 3~5 minutes) by special clear string, then we can arrange the precious gemstones the right orders, and finally we can work through cilicon cord for each stones to complete...

Concentration is required and definitely "CREATIVITY" is necessary when making this item! Like this?? Please contact us for further details.

xxxx    Malayvone

REAL VALUE FOR REAL QUALITY...

A memorable BLACK OPAL MAN'S RING.  

The story begins as this...
A gentleman has brought this black opal ring, wanted it repaired because there was a deep crack on opal and also mentioned that he paid around AUD$5000 for a ring (10years ago). I suggested him to find a new opal loose stone to replace, since the crack was too deep to get fixed and unstable to continue wearing.

He agreed, then we took a ring to a jeweller nearby (along with the ring owner), found out right infront of us, that a cracked opal on the ring was not SOLID but DOUBLET OPAL. What a disappointment!! So, basically he has paid AUD$5000 for a plain 18K Yellow Gold, no diamond, no real black opal or wahtsoever...

Well, eventually he was happy to allow us to use his original gold casting and to put a new Black Opal (A$3600)as replacement. This is what his ring has turned out in the end, "real value for the real opal ring"!!!! He still is enjoy wearing a black opal ring daily.                      

xxxx    Malayvone

OPAL COLORS...

Have you ever seen quality opal patterns and its colors been enlarged?   Well, incase you have not, here are some I'd like to share with you...

These are BLACK OPAL CUT OUTS and it's the actual NATURAL OPAL PATTERNS which has been enlarged ( x 20 times more). Just like the painting, right??!!?? 

The big difference between an ordinary painting & nature created painting is that an ordinary painting can easily be copied or repeated, but these natural piece of artworks are ONE AND ONLY, and it takes about 5 million years to complete.... 

How cool and precious is that!!!  Now, how much value are we talking about here?? (hahaha)

xxxx   Malayvone

Good afternoon!!

Look at  this beautiful natural art....

It is an Australian Boulder opal (Solid) pendant.

It has a hole to let string through.

What can you imagine from this opal?

I see "Australia" in it!!

Coral Sea,the huge red and brown coloured ground, the outback, the Ayers Rock in the middle....

I hope you will enjoy its beauty...

Mayu