Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Rock Talk => Topic started by: 55fossil on April 30, 2024, 10:26:11 AM
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Okay, I hear everyone lies on the internet, but Etsy has lists Owyhee Blue Opal being shipped from India by most sellers. I really do not believe this is the same Owyhee Blue Opal that was dug in Oregon, as in the USA!!!! I think that these sellers have named any opal they want to sell as being the COLOR, Owyhee Blue and it is opal. It is not really from the Owyhee's Mountains. Anyone else have a thought other than these sellers are just ripping people off like all the jasper that is sold as Owyhee Picture Jasper but really is not.
Yes, it tweaks me off because I actually have Owyhee Blue Opal that I dug and I also have some of the material that Steve Schultz dug years ago. Guess I will add some pictures to this rant in a little while. Just so tweaked I needed to post this now, sorry.
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Not sure if you know, but Steve sold that claim a few years back. Yes, hard to tell what’s “really” authentic anymore.
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Lots of rough from all over the world finds its way to India, since there is so much cutting going on. I would guess that in Jaipur region alone there are more professional lapidaries than in the whole of North America. While you are probably right in assuming that the material you saw was misrepresented, it is not unthinkable that some real Owyhee blue opal ended up there, perhaps via Tucson.
Owyhee blue opal that I know comes in distinctive nodules, and is very pale blue. If we are thinking of the same material, it would be easy to tell if what foreign sellers are offering is the same stuff.
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You are correct, the pictures can be a give away. There are other locations in the Owyhee's that also have Blue Opal so it may be from someone else's find. I am including pictures of some material I dug about 10 years ago.
First picture is material dug by Steve Schultz in his now famous find.
Second and third pictures are chunks I dug full of blue opal nodules in matrix. There were eggs from 1 to 3 inches as well as the matrix material. There was blue, white, grey and crystal clear opal as well as some geodes in the bed I found. I dug this in the Owyhee Mountains.
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More pictures of the Blue Opal I dug.
First pics are chunks with blue and blue-gray chunks / eggs.
Second picture is some cross sections of opal nodules in matrix. Pieces are about 5 inches across.
Last is a bucket of baby eggs that are mostly 1 to 2 inches. There are blue eggs, as well as grey, white and geodes as well as an occasional agate center.