From: Larissa ^..^
Email: vega8@att.net
Date: 10-Mar-2003
Time: 04:55 PM
Free-form is a fairly well accepted shaping for opal nowadays. It preserves most of the color and one can get quite artistic with it. Standard settings can't be used with free-form, of course, which is the primary drawback. I'd personally suggest leaving it in the form you like it in. :)
If you *have* to sell it down the line, you can try as it is. If it doesn't sell, then you might consider shaping it further. Remember -- it's your stone and you can always make changes anywhere in the stages, even after it's finished. The only point where you've mostly lost the option is after it's been placed in jewelry. Which is the other point to selling -- we all love our opals, but to the public, they generally sell best in jewelry. Not everybody has the resources to take a stone and get it set.
But until you have to sell, enjoy your stone in the manner that you like it best!
Smiles, -- Larissa ^..^ http://vega8.home.att.net/opals/