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About Rod Keady
Expertise
all info pertaining to australian opals and opal fields is ok. online valuations is difficult but not entirely impossible. Photographs of stones should clearly show weight in carats and scale in mm. naturally photographs of opals are the hardest thing to take as a slight shift in direction displays a new colour or plane

Experience
Born into a pioneering opal family , now 48 yrs old , visited every opal field in australia, seen some of the finest stones ever produced . Sold high quality gems to japanese collectors and europeans and Americans
Have an incredible photogallery of opals ...try me !

Organizations belong to
Company is member of Gemmological Association of Australia
Australian Opal Association
Dig this if you will Club

Publications
The Directory of Australian Opal Dealers AGIOA Basel Gem Fair
Iwaki Dinosaur Fair Ibaragi Prefecture Japan
International Jewelry Tokyo .
Hong Kong Jewellery Show , Bankok Jewellery Show, Hiroshima Exhibition of Fine Gems, Tokyo International Jewellery Fair . various gem and jewellery WEBSITES

Education/Credentials
Sydney Grammar School graduate

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Jewelry, Gems, & Minerals - opal

Expert: Rod Keady - 11/11/2009

Question

OPAL PHOTOS

QUESTION: Hi, I have a 192 CT opal. it is multi color , This is been in my family for years. I wanted to know , where is the best place I could try to sell this. Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Vinney ,
Lucky you 192 ct opal is big and if its been in your family for years, I hope it would stay in your family for more years. Thats unfortunate that you are wanting to sell it . Right now is not a good time to sell any gemstones,the world financial collapse has effected all stone markets . Diamond is very affected very badly also , Gold is today just a tad over US$1100 per ounce. So buying a stone is not good timing. Even if it were good timing. Where would you sell it ? Ok ...where are you ? I assume your in USA . I would first check local designers, who almost never get a chance to buy a big stone .Even if they dont buy it , get them to take a look , often, they've never even seen a stone of this type. have them identify it, dont let on too quickly that you are wishing to sell it, Romance the stone, they may even make you an offer. If not have them positively identify it. It may not be from Australia, It may be from Brazil , or Idaho even. It may be cracked, it may need re-cutting , if so have pairs made, matching pairs increase the value. However it might be Australian and old and from a field that is no longer producing, it certainly would be big and bold so " talk it up" ...The jeweller might suggest someone who might be interested. If not. Then, you would have to try ebay,check out some magazines who specialize in jewellery. Rock shops, Ide try designers. Many will offer you far less than you are prepared to listen to.. Pay no attention to them of course.. Try an auction site. Have it photographed, send a few off to potential jewellers, if after all that. Insure it and see if your local jeweller will display it in their window. But make sure its not under burning hot lights, if it is in a cabinette with some lighting, place a small glass of water near by it. Other than that, you should wait a little till gold comes down, or the public commence buying things for investment. Insure it, give it some love .
I hope that helps,
best regards
Rod Keady www.keadyopals.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I FOUND a AIG appraisal paper that my family had it done few months ago it says , ONE boulder brown opal that is in a free form shape and is unset measuring 52mm long x 33mm wide and 23 mm thick the exact weight is 193.64 carats. the opal has a somewhat bright , red , blue multicolor play of clolor (fine)in a flashfire pattern. the opal is approximately 48% of face slight variation in base in its brghtness and pattern and is somewhat directional.

Answer
Hi Vinney,
Thanks for the image
This appraisal says "boulder brown opal". This is misleading, a "boulder opal" is a type of Australian Opal from Queensland . The brown in a boulder opal is referring to the host rock, ironstone , and is more looking looking like chocolate. This is not a boulder opal, it is a South Australian Opal and its my opinion it is probably from Coober Pedy and is maybe even a bivalve shell thats been ground and fashioned but not finished out. I will show my father tomorrow , he is 86 yrs and an Opal master, especially from Andamooka and Coober Pedy where in the 60 s he was Australia's largest exporter. The brown is a sandstone conglomerate and is often quite hard , sometimes a quartzite ... The 1 shot you sent shows nice colour and its a matrixy type , where there are mixed up solid opal sections and veins. This is probably why your appraiser has determined it to be a boulder opal . I am quiet sure its not . As for value , its still too hard to determine. Its not polished ... a sequence of images would help see if there cutting prospects.Seems theres some red falshes when its turned and rolled thats good .

lets see what my father says .
best regards Rod

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