Cost of Opal...

[m76steve]

The wife is a collector of opal, mostly black opal then crystal opal. We dont own that much of the material but do look to the shows for the possible buy of a good stone. I recently noticed the cost of the good cuts of stone, basically black opal, $20,000.00/ct. & crystal opal to $6,400.00/ct. These prices are for wholesale, top quality but from what im reading & info from my stone cutter, supply is low & demand seems to be up for good quality material. With the economy being what it is, it still is a buyers market, a little tact & research new buys are still on the menu-steve...

[OpalSpectrum]

yes it's true that some black can reach 20k/ct -- in most cases the price is so high when the pattern is rare and amazing
but you can still buy Top 5/5 black gem from LR for 5-8k/ct and even cheaper
so I would not call 20k/ct the wholesale price

[m76steve]

Thanks for ur reply, the prices Im quoting are retail & mostly sourced from Int Gem Society. thanku-steve...

[m76steve]

I usually tout about my stone cutter in Pa, he does have some beautiful black opal, this perticular item is just under 7.5ct, very bright, good color responce, his price at the shows is $15,000.00/stone, as good as it is & rare he says the appr should close in on $25,000.00 plus, retail, his estimate & some of my appraisers tend to agree with Frank, Its amazing to me the value of this Australian material-steve...

[OpalSpectrum]

but 25K for 7.5ct is not 20k/1ct ..and 15-25 for the stone is probably fear price
just check BOD website and see his prices
I think highest price he asked for black gem was around 17-18k/ct (and it was mid size +3ct gem)..but most are in range of 2000-5000/ct which I think is wholesale price.
but I know what you mean and how the market and 'statistics' works

[PinkDiamond]

We've been hearing that a lot of miners are packing up and quitting because of all the government rules and regulations that have been imposed on them, as well as taxes, the price of fuel, and having to restore mined sites and backfill them, so expect a steady rise in the cost of LR blacks, as well as other types as supplies start dwindling if miners continue to abandon the trade. The ones that are tenacious enough to hold onto their dream and continue on stand to make a lot of money if they can avoid being slapped with fines and penalties, but the government itself is what's killing the trade. You'd think they'd be more supportive since opal is their national stone, but instead they made it harder, and on top of that, rising postal rates are killing sellers who have to add the rising cost of shipping to stay in business, so prices have become like a one way elevator that only goes up.

[KKHK]

To me those prices are in the roam of pure Fantasia.
Any pictures of that kind of quality?

[m76steve]

Kkhk, I have 3 examples of very good opals, 1st one i own, certed australian ridge crystal opal, rated fine to ex-fine, rated 3 yrs ago about $33,000.00 in 18kt gold setting, 14.25cts. 2nd is a mexican fire opal, i just bought, rated VVS, 4.54cts, round cut, diamond cut, 14 x 7mm in size, mounted in 18kt gold, appraised over $1,100.00/ct, which is on the high side of retail because the material is so good, so far 2 appraisals on this stone & another coming this week for verifying & a australian black opal at 11.4cts, brite 5+, N3, with certs at $4,500.00/ct., not mine but always thinkin how to purchase. This still on ebay as of today, very good example too. hope this helps add a little info for u-steve...

[KKHK]

Beautiful pieces, but as a person not very familiar with colours and reason behind price,
they do look somewhat similar to other stones that are offered at much lower prices.
So even if I had the money, I would be very confused.

[PinkDiamond]

The key is that m76 is a very savvy buyer, who knows quality when he sees it, and he always scores his stones at below market prices; that's why he does so well when the appraisals on them are done. I have also gotten gems and gold and gem jewelry that I got so cheap I feel like Jesse James. You have to find the right piece at the right price, and you have to search for them because they are out there, but are not the norm.

Often people don't know what they have and sell it at ridiculously low prices. I was in an antique store back when the dinosaurs roamed, and found a fox pin I really liked that was marked as costume jewelry. I took it to the owner, and pointed out to her that the foxes' eyes were in fact canary yellow diamonds, and she was screwing herself selling it for that price. She almost fainted and thanked me profusely after checking and verifying I was right, thanking me even for pointing it out to her and not taking advantage of it to buy it for a mere pittance.

I also scored a 14kt YG necklace with Colombian emeralds for just over $300, that appraised a year or so later for $1,800, and that was probably 10 years ago, so with Colombian emeralds prices reaching the sky, I know it has at least doubled in value if not more, so the deals are out there if you can find them, but that is the tricky part.

m76 is probably the most astute buyer I've come across because he is educated and selective about what he buys, and does so at wholesale or below prices, so he can't really go wrong, and then he has them set in fine gold settings, so IMHO he's doing everything right, which is why he's successful at it.