Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Opal => Topic started by: PhilNM on October 17, 2016, 03:53:46 PM
-
Hi all, got another one.... can anyone tell me going price per carat for top quality opalized wood? Thanks
-
Ahh that's fire Phil!!!
-
Thats amazing!!
is it hard to come by?
-
Beautiful! I have one tiny sliver of pure virgin valley opal that I bought years ago. It wasn't cheap.
-
Can't really give you an estimate, but dry, stable, untreated VV wood should command a high price. Most of it winds up sitting around in jars of water.
Look around online. Price yours according to what you see there. We have one stable VV cab that has a crazy price on it according to most people. Wouldn't take less, though, because I've never seen another one similar to it.
-
Thats amazing!!
is it hard to come by?
Very hard to find. This came from a small piece of limb. We have cabbed about 10 pieces so far. All really nice! I'm thinking about $5 per carat?
-
I'd pay that as fast as I could grab my wallet. I think you could go 5-10x higher (or more) for stable opalized wood like that and have no trouble finding buyers. Very attractive piece!
-
Thanks. I'll see if I can get some decent pics of the others.
-
Phil, you might get better price comparisons if you search for conk opal or opalized conk wood. That seems to be the name most people use for the VV material.
-
thanks. It still needs the final polishing, but I think it's gonna be killer! Where could I sell them for those prices?
-
That's a whole 'nother question. As the old saying goes, buying gems is easy; selling them is hard -- especially if you demand top dollar. VV material seems to occupy a niche market. Some will pay big $$ for it, most people have no idea what it is. The key I'd think is searching out the specialist markets where you'll find knowledgeable buyers. Where those are I have no idea at the moment.
-
Thanks. yeah, me neither.
-
Just did a search on Ebay for "Virgin Valley Opalized Wood" and found some rough ranging in price from $16.79/carat for a piece in water to $5.00/carat for a number of different dry pieces. None were as good as your polished cab.
Jerry
-
Thanks. Will discuss prices with my partner. Think I should post them here for sale first? Would anyone seriously buy any or just want to look?
-
How are you guys defining "stable"? The stone is a beauty and the more wood usually means more stable for VV. But so many people have gotten burned by sellers stating that they had stable VV for sale and it cracked up later. So do you think a month, year or more is adequate dry time to refer to VV as stable?
And $5 a carat would be too low for stable. I think $5 a carat as is with no guarantees?
-
This raw material has been drying in a garage in New Mexico for about 17 years.... stable enough for you? We have no idea what it should sell for, that's why I asked in the first place. Here, in our gem and mineral shows, people won't even pay $5 per carat! It just doesn't sell! So.... where can I get this magic $25 to $50 per carat you refer to?
-
You could try Opal Auctions. See here: https://www.opalauctions.com/auctions/american-opal/american-opal-stones/virgin-valley-opal-stones/
-
You could try Opal Auctions. See here: https://www.opalauctions.com/auctions/american-opal/american-opal-stones/virgin-valley-opal-stones/
Good luck getting accepted as a seller there. They didn't even bother to respond to my detailed request some time back.
Another possibility, though it involves travel, might be The American Opal Society show coming up Nov. 5 & 6 in Anaheim, CA. It's late for dealer acceptance but I can put you in touch with the AOS dealer contact if you're interested.
-
Yeah, I know they've gotten weird. Of course, you can always try Ebay and do an auction with a reserve on it. :dontknow:
-
I have both paid and sold in the price range I mentioned years ago when putting together a couple collections of official state gemstones. Prices haven't come down on VV since (unlike some other opals that have been affected by the Welo opal that flooded the market a few years ago). You could try ebay, but even though those are below-wholesale prices, it will take time to sell (mostly bargain-bin buyers). You might try posting over at the OpalholicsAnonymous (http://www.opalholicsanonymous.com/phpbb/index.php) board, as there is at least one guy (swordfishmining) who regularly posts over there who mines and sells VV opal. He might have some suggestions on where to sell. When I checked just now, the board was offline (they mentioned last night that they were dealing with an outage yesterday, too - wondering whether its something related to the widespread DNS Internet attack that several other major sites have been fighting off the last few days), but I expect it will be back up fairly quickly. If you really decide to let it go at $5 per carat, I'd find some way to grab it - but I believe you can do much better with collectors with deeper pockets than mine.
-
Thanks. we haven't decided, but I'm of the persuasion that a fast nickle beats a slow dime...
-
Phil; Chill dude, it was an honest question. There have been so many people selling "stabilized" and stable VV opal... you know the drill. I love opal and it is really great you have found some of the stable VV material because there is not much of it. All the material I have collected at VV in the past had to go into water but it was still beautiful. You are a lucky guy to get the good stuff.
-
Very nice!