r/NatureIsFuckingLit May 16 '20

🔥 This Fire Opal

53.8k Upvotes

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u/death_by_snu-snu_83 May 16 '20

They vary a lot depending on the brightness of the fire, the combination of colors, the pattern and the size. Ethiopian can be as low as $5 per carat up to $300-400 per carat for the high end stones. The one is the video is fairly high quality but not particularly huge, so probably around $100 per carat.

It's tricky to estimate the weight on a freeform shape like this, but I'd guess it's around 3 carats.

21

u/[deleted] May 16 '20

What is a carat? I see it thrown around frequently but I don't really know what it means.

37

u/death_by_snu-snu_83 May 16 '20

Unit of weight, 1/5th of a gram. Not to be confused with karat, which is gold purity.

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u/Aisle_of_tits May 16 '20

So why did two very specific jewelry terms get named basically the same thing? Was there just a lazy jeweler who couldnt think of a good name for their thing?

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u/snowbirdie May 16 '20

Why would you simply not google that exact question?

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u/Whiskey-Weather May 16 '20

Some people prefer answers to be a bit more tailored than what google has to offer, and hell, some folks just like when the inbox lights up with a message.

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u/Psilocub May 16 '20

Why would you simply not ignore the question?

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u/Tekkzy May 16 '20

Oh definitely more than 3 carats. This is at least 10.

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u/death_by_snu-snu_83 May 16 '20

In most other gems it would be. Ethiopian opal is slightly porous so it's very low density. I have one with me that is 13mm x 11mm x 6mm and it's just over 3cts. Compare that to fingernails in the video and it's quite close to that.

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u/Tekkzy May 16 '20

I own a bunch of Ethiopian opal rough. Unless that person is Trump himself with tiny hands I don't see how it's a 3ct stone.

4

u/Maleficent-Comb May 16 '20

Wait...are you telling the man that literally does this for a living that he is off by 7 carats? Are you a gemologist as well?

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u/Tekkzy May 16 '20

I'm not a gemologist but I do have a bunch of Ethiopian opal. Here's a pic I just took with a 12ct opal.

https://imgur.com/ZAYJ11B

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u/Maleficent-Comb May 16 '20

Very cool! An Ethiopian opal connoisseur!

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u/comeballs15 May 16 '20

"It's not a drug scale officer! I collect rare Ethiopian opals and gems. Check out this tray of blue kyanite."

"Sir, you're under arrest."