Welo Ethiopian Opals

Once in a decade a new discovery of gems presents an opportunity to buy extremely high quality at very low prices. This has been the case in the past with peridot from Pakistan in 2001, bi-color tourmalines from Brazil in the early 1990s, sapphires from Madagascar in the 1997 to name a few. When they are found for a couple of years they are very inexpensive because of the quantity available. As with most finds the quantity is finite and as quickly as it was found it disappears and the price inflates rapidly by as much as 10 times. This situation is compounded as we see more material on the market the popularity increases because of exposure to the public and this demand also inflates prices.

Today we have one of those unique opportunities to buy extra-ordinary opal from Welo, Ehiopia discovered in 2010. The quality is finer than any I have purchased from Australia up until now considered to be the finest opal source. This Ethiopian opal is top crystal material, meaning it has high transparency, generally considered to be the highest quality opal. This transparency allows you to facet or cab these Ethiopian opals. The colors are evenly spread through the entire gem and the intensity of the color is unreal as they seem to float in the gem and project from the surface. The number of colors in a single piece is only rarely seen in Australian material and occasionally we see violet which is so unusual in opal from any source. The color patterns are highly varied, including large harlequin patters and bright pin fire.

See our Complete Collection of Welo Opals