Quote:
Originally Posted by Gusteau
Paging AzTheta!
I don't want to dissuade you, really. However, opals today are not the same as you see on older badges like the ones we lust over in the Badge Trends thread. They are lighter, almost white, and don't have as much "fire" as the opals of yesteryear. Maybe there is a way you could see a sample of the opals you would be getting.
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Hey Gusteau!
You rang?
@sherry, call Ruth @ Theta HQ & ask her to put you in touch with J. Lewis Small,the official Fraternity jeweler. I saw several of their badges at convention (none with opals, alas) and was impressed with their workmanship.
Gusteau is correct; most of today's opals are nothing like the opals we see in the older badges. It is possible to get fiery opals, but you'll pay a high price, and it might be challenging to get a jeweler to cut up opals into small sizes for a badge. I found four rather large matched opals in a vintage jewelry piece and wanted to purchase the piece for Honeychile so that she could create an opal ADPi badge. When I found out what it was going to cost to cut up the opals, plus the jeweler would not guarantee that the original opals wouldn't shatter and become unusable, I said "forget it!"
Another point: I have seen some opal badges that look absolutely spectacular in photographs, but in person...meh. Bear in mind that the stones used in badges are pretty small (I was going to say tiny). Look at a pearled kite and visualize it with opals. See what I mean?
And I could write a dissertation about natural vs. synthetic opals, how to clean & care for them, etc.
Damn, I wish Dyer was still in business.
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