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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 22, 2017 17:40:11 GMT -5
I received a request for an opal ring last week, so I presented my prospective customer with a photo of three potential opals. (I've learned not to offer more than three options at a time and two is way better than three, but hey.) She picked the most interesting of the three, a striped doublet with a fair amount of rolling fire in the stripes. I thought it was a very nice opal but not all that special. So I quoted her a good price, maybe just a little lower than I would have if I listed a ring with this opal on Etsy. And she bought it. It's a half-round band with the opal bezel-set. When setting an opal in a bezel one of the things that I can count on is some improvement in the opal's fire. That's because the bezel prevents light from entering from the sides, which otherwise slightly diminishes the fire in the exposed top surface. Well, she's getting one very good deal. This one really improved as I hammered the bezel down. Had I known that I would have priced it 50% higher. That's OK. Happy customers are always good. I have some old black drafting tape somewhere. Maybe next time I'll tape a temporary "bezel" just to see what's likely to happen...
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Post by Pat on Mar 22, 2017 17:56:09 GMT -5
Looks good to me!
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Mar 22, 2017 18:06:00 GMT -5
Beautiful! Interested to see the "before" pictures.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 22, 2017 18:53:43 GMT -5
Thank you. Here's the photo that my customer saw. All three are doublets. I thought that the photo made the striped opal look just a little too good.
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Mar 22, 2017 18:59:58 GMT -5
Maybe you're right - Not sure. I think it looks about the same honestly. But I haven't seen it in hand. Either way, a gorgeous stone beautifully set, and a happy customer.
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Post by toiv0 on Mar 22, 2017 19:53:18 GMT -5
Nice work and super stone, she'll be happy
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Mar 23, 2017 0:37:48 GMT -5
Lovely stone and cool, work. It's pretty well known that a black background will set an opal off well. Did you make the doublet too?
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Erich
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2015
Posts: 411
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Post by Erich on Mar 23, 2017 6:59:54 GMT -5
Beautiful ring and I would have chosen the same opal if it were me choosing.
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,438
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Post by NDK on Mar 23, 2017 8:37:21 GMT -5
Beautiful ring and the other opals aren't too shabby either.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 23, 2017 8:46:58 GMT -5
Very nice work. Beautiful piece. Great photos too.
That half round looks nice and strong. What gauge was it?
Chuck
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 23, 2017 9:24:10 GMT -5
Thank you all for your nice comments.
Of the three doublets in that last photo, I made the ones on the left and the right. I use black jade for backing and I mix either carbon black or mars black pigment with 330 epoxy. Despite careful mixing and assembly, I've had problems with occasional bubbles that are visible through the opal. A couple of years ago I had seen an Australian video about making doublets where the undersides of the opal layers were given a quick spray of flat black paint prior to epoxying. So I've been doing that lately and bubbles are no longer a problem. But I make sure to flatten backs with 600 grit or less to ensure that the epoxy has more to grip than just the paint.
The half round wire is 3 x 1.5 mm and the ring is a size 7. I've been thinking about buying some 3 x 2 mm wire for larger rings.
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Post by drocknut on Mar 23, 2017 10:11:34 GMT -5
All of those opals look beautiful. That ring came out gorgeous. I'd have picked the first opal but that's just my tastes. I'm sure your customer will definitely be happy.
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Mar 23, 2017 10:38:30 GMT -5
opalpyrexia, Looks great! It looks like the shank butts up to the bezel. Man that must have been hard to solder without a meltdown. Lynn
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,732
Member is Online
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Post by gemfeller on Mar 23, 2017 11:03:04 GMT -5
Nice work! Thanks for posting.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 23, 2017 13:42:18 GMT -5
Thank you.
Ahhh, soldering! It's a challenge. I used hard on the bezel setting and medium for attaching it to the shank, so that helped. The biggest issue was fixturing and still getting an orientation that would help the solder go where intended. I played around with a few variations before choosing one. The tapered shape of the setting helped and I chose to hold the shank in a third hand, allowing gravity to wedge the setting point-down between the two cut ends. Doing first one and then the other, I oriented each by about 45 degrees so that gravity favored solder running onto and down the side of the bezel rather than onto the top surface the shank.
I placed balled solder on the top of the joint, heated the entire ring from below, and then focused heat around the joint - but I made sure to include the bezel setting with the torch.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Mar 23, 2017 19:53:54 GMT -5
Really nice job. Thanks for posting about the process! BTW, I *love* your profile pic.
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Post by radio on Mar 23, 2017 20:15:15 GMT -5
Beautiful stone and setting. Just for grins, you might want to try full hard low dome wire rather than half round on your next setting like that. Something that really sets off a killer stone is order a ring shank with accents, cut out the main setting then solder to the sides of your bezel and set a couple of 3 mm accent stones. this shank would work well for such a project
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 23, 2017 22:04:29 GMT -5
That's an excellent idea. It sure beats making one from scratch!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 23, 2017 22:13:52 GMT -5
Thank you. I hope that my image looks friendly. I've been pestered to change my Facebook photo, which is completely different, because everybody dislikes it, so I had already been thinking along the lines of "creating" sunglasses.
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Post by pghram on Mar 24, 2017 15:44:05 GMT -5
Beautiful ring and cabs. I would have chosen the middle one, but the finished piece is superb.
Peace,
Rich
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