Was wandering around the downtown area in the town I am deployed in since we had a down day. Decided to go opal hunting in the jewelry stores that are everywhere in this town. Had a blast. First one I went into I found their opal section and saw some very nice Ethiopian rings and pendants. Looked in the next section over and found some Aussie opal. So me being me I asked for a closer look. They were charging $2200 for a doublet. The back was exposed and there was very little gold present. What it did have was a rather rough either basalt or black jade backing. I could see where they beveled it fairly unevenly. She insisted it was solid. Then I looked at an earring set she said was boulder. It was open sided, stupidly thin. This she admitted was a doublet, but the backing was boulder opal too(it totally wasnt) and thus sold as a solid opal. I explained to her the reasoning behind doublets and triplets briefly and why you would not use boulder opal as a backing for other opal. Her reply was "Are you a gemologist?", "No","Well I think I know what I am talking about." , "Are you a lapidarist who works in opal almost exclusively?","No", "Well I think since I actually order the rough from Australia, cut, polish, and mount it, to include making doublets and triplets, I think I know what I am talking about." I found it entertaining anyway. I then went around to different stores and talked to workers about their opal and helped a few identify what they were unsure of. Found some nice pieces. I told one about hydrophane opals and how they would stick to your fingers and she went and showed everyone how cool it was with some estate jewelry.
-on a side note, holy crap is laramar super common now. You would think they found another mine with how much I saw and how big some of the pieces were. Lots of large ethiopian as well. Far more than any other kind.