Hi, your forum is very good. We are miners and cutters with the largest cutting factory and also doing beads, facated beads ( no one elese in Peru does faceting) , facted cabs, cabochons, carvings, and suppliers of roughs and many minerals, etc from Lima Peru
We would like the American Opal Society to Publish warnings on all the Peruvian Blue Opal that foreign people in India and China are now dying our mine run that is washed out whittish opal with a hint of blue-green color. These beads and cabs are appearing in mass all over ebay, the internet, at gemshows and alsowere prevelant at Tuscon. Blue Opal is now undergoing the same as amethyest and eventually foreigners will start to dye mine runs of the pink opals as well. In addition for the American Opal News paper_Magazine for News disimination manufactureres in India and China are buying dyed brazilian chalcedony and agates and selling such in the same markets as peruvian blue opal or peruvian blue opal chalcedony. In addition, they also are selling at shows , Tuscon, and on ebay, etc synthetics such as victoria stone in cabs and beads of Peruvian Blue Opal to resemble veryhigh quality blue opal. The dyed proscuts are easily detecable via the naked eye in the dye marks, and also the unuusual excellent aqua-blue topaz color what many people say "it looks funny" for the priceof $10 to $40 per strand or so.
Currently there is graet shortage of any good color in peruvian Blue Opal along with great rising price in premiums or preemium or superior beads . We proabbaly are the largest manufacturet in the high end market as we also mine bleu opal for many years since the 1980's when blue opal was bought by Germany and called chrysopal or opal stained by chryscolla or copper minerals. There are also several simply tetst to discover dye .
Also, the brazilian dyed from whittish chgalcedony is easy to spot due to density as chalcedony is much heavier than the avg 30 gram -8mm strand of blue opal beads in weight. Synthetics can be spotted in beads readily as in every strand of blue opal beads colors cannot be matched evenly even in premium and one can see via loupe, some inclusions or puffs, etc imperfectabilites in the stone.
Eventually we warn peiople to buy p[ink opal noe and our rose pink opals and our new aqua and mint grren opal and kasuku opal- parrot green opal as eventually as pink opal continues to rise in demand from Peru there will be little color left and only mine run basically that people overseas will start to dye like blue opal mine runs. Also pink opal has no water problems or dehydration problem , is hard with a 6.5 hardneess -some of the hardest opal in the world and takes a super polish. We refer you also to the artcicles done By DR Hyrsl and Dr Petrov JUne-JUly 2001 or 2002 and others from the Journal of Gemmology on our mining and stones- " Gemstones of Peru"
Please fell free to contact me at 610-384-5991 or email:lshorowitz@yahoo.com We also carry many other stones and opals from Tanzania and Kenya as well
Thank you-Lee Horowitz, M.Ed,CAGS
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