My husband is leaving for Sydney next week and alas, I'm not able to go with him. He has promised to bring home an opal ring or earrings, as he will be gone on my 50th birthday. Can anyone recommend a good place that he might find some nice things at a decent price? I'm not an extravagant jewelry hound but would like something nice. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know anything about jewellery stores in Sydney, so cannot provide any advice on that score.

You and your husband are brave to risk this mission. After an earring fiasco that happened many years ago (one that did not involve opals, however), my husband and I wouldn't even think of undertaking an exercise like this now.

However, if you insist on going ahead, I'll share what I know about opals.

Usually the lighter, milky coloured ones are cheaper than the brightly coloured ones (the ones with emerald green, royal blue, fuschia, etc., in them).

Silver settings obviously are cheaper than gold settings.

Doublets, triplets and inlays are cheaper than solid opals. Doublets, triplets and inlays involve thin slivers of opal being glued to a backing of some sort.

By doing a Google search, I found a website from which one could order opal jewellery. It has photos of the jewellery pieces along with descriptions and prices. I think it would help your husband a lot, and perhaps go a long way towards avoiding a disappointment like ours, if you showed your husband the sorts of pieces you liked on the website. If he was armed with fairly explicit specifications regarding the colour of opal you liked, desired setting (silver or gold, simple or ornate, etc.), whether you wanted a solid opal or a doublet, the size of opal you wanted, etc., he would have a better chance of selecting something you liked.

Here's the website:

http://gilletts.com.au/pages/list_opal_jewelry.htm

You might want to think of the trade offs you'd be willing to make. For example, for a given price, you might be able to get a small solid opal or a large, visually more impressive doublet. The same thing would apply to colour. A given price might buy you a small, brilliantly coloured opal or a larger, pale one.

An opal is relatively soft, as precious stones go. Unlike a hard gemstone like a diamond or ruby, it's unsuitable for everyday wear, e.g., when you're gardening, cleaning the house, etc. Given that an opal in any case is relatively soft and is something you should put on only when you're getting dressed up, I personally have not found it makes much difference whether the stone is solid or a doublet. I have a pair of earrings made from solid opals and a brooch (pin) made from a doublet. I like both the earrings and the brooch, because I like the colours of the opals. No one besides my husband and me knows that the earrings are solid and the brooch is a doublet.

I love the subtle colours of opals. They are one of nature's miracles. I hope you'll enjoy yours.

There was a discussion some time ago on purchasing Opals in Sydney and quite a lot of good information came to light - if you do a Search at the top of the page you will probably be able to find it.

Here are recent discussions of opals on this board:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

Well, those addresses aren't right! Just go to the search box on top of this page, and type in 'opal' to get about 10 threads of discussions.

Your husband might drop by Costello's on George St. in Sydney. Quality jewelry with a good reputation for standing behind their merchandise. My wife bought earrings and a pendant there -- very satisfied.

Hi GPratt,

Firstly in Australia we have what is called 9 ct gold, this would not be classed as gold in th USA as I believe most people would consider the lowest grade of gold to be 14 ct. So you might like to warn your husband about the gold issue. He would be wise to ask if it is 9 ct or 18 ct gold in the setting.

Secondly I would recommend just buying a solid unset opal and have the ring or pendant designed and made in the USA as you will then have the oportunity to create your own design. Lets face it the Australian part is the opal the setting isn't guaranteed to be made in Australia, most are made in Asia.

Opal is a strange stone and really an opal should ultimately be picked by the person who will wear it as they are all very individual stones unlike diamonds, rubies etc. However I am sure your husband will see one he thinks you will like.

Cheers

Paul_S

A lot of American jewelers are hestitant to work on OPALS because they are quite fragile and not used to working with the material.

I had my solid black opal set and picked it the day before I left. They can make jewelry overnight.

With the exception of my ring not being ready the day I requested (I gave them OVER a week to get it ready--they dropped the ball) I love my Opal and the setting is very nice--we designed it that day (they had an on site artist who drew it all out).

Prices were great.

I also bought a loose Boulder Opal that I plan to have set as a pendant some day in a basic bezel.

BUT make sure you have an idea of what color you want.

My small black opal --black b/c of the type of rock it is on I belive (the backing is black) but my stone is blues and greens. Cost around 300 plus the white gold setting...I think we spent around 550 US total.

The place we went tooo was crazy...you have to get buzzed in and they have books full of opals. You just tell them what kind and the price range. They all start looking alike to be honest.

I bought my boulder opal from Flame Opals but they had a significantly smaller selection of loose stones

http://www.flameopals.com.au/index.php

I got the boulder opal b/c the vein they come from will be mined out in our lifetime and unless they luck upon another one--they are gone forever. Black opals are more valuable but will be around longer!

The other option is a BLACK PEARL! I am trying for one of those possibly when we go back in August ;-)

The place I had my ring made...not sure of the name but it was either on George or Pitt Street within a block or 2 from the Hilton in the CBD. It was in a non descript office building several floors up.

OK I think I found the place--
http://www.australianopalcutters.com/