The exciting arrival of gem quality solid opal from the Welo
district of Ethiopia is taking the gem world by storm. Some are
confusing the Welo opal, discovered circa 2008, with the original
Ethiopian opal discovery in 1994 at Yita Ridge in the Shewa
province, which is prone to cracking. Contrarily, once cut, the
Welo opals have proven to be as stable as Australian opal or
Brazilian opal where only a small percentage may craze or
crack.
作为天然澳宝宝石界的新星，来自埃塞俄比亚Welo矿区的
opal闪亮登场，引发业界风雷变色。之前1994年的Yita矿身为埃塞俄比亚opal的老前辈，却一直被诟病易裂，有人也许会将其与2008才姗姗来迟的welo弄混。然而事实上，welo矿区的opal经过切割以后的稳定性一直表现很好，只有小部分出现裂碎等问题，性能直追澳洲和巴西出产的opal。
Australian opals are sedimentary in nature, forming in ancient
sea beds, whereas Ethiopian opals originate from volcanic activity.
All volcanic opal is called “hydrophane opal." The term hydrophane
comes from the Greek words meaning “water-loving” and describes
their ability to absorb water and change from opaque or
semi-translucent to translucent or transparent. Sometimes this
highlights the color play – others will just become transparent or
opaque, with no color when hydrated. Hydrophane opals vary widely
from source to source, so it is important to learn the
characteristics of gems from a particular mine rather than consider
all hydrophane opals to be alike in both looks and properties. The
good news is that tests by GIA and others have shown that opal from
the Welo province in Ethiopia will revert back to its original
state, once dried, with no adverse reaction such as cracking.
澳洲opal的成因来自古老海床上的沉积，而埃塞俄比亚的opal却由火山活动造就。所有火山造就的opal都被称为“水欧泊”，这是个古老的希腊词的英文意思是”Water-loving“，意思是“依水而繁盛”，（非要咱们中国人理解，意思就是“水光潋滟容颜好，依水能活更动人“）。因为它们本身的吸水能力，以及在水中的透明度的增强的特性。（这些特性应石而异，）有些能因水而引发其潜藏的绚烂变彩，有些却不能。水欧泊本身种类繁多，与其将它们都一视同仁的归类分析，还是将每个矿区的不同opal矿分门别类的研究特性要更实用些。根据GIA以及其他一些实验室的测试报告显示，welo矿会顺利通过干燥过程，它会回复原本的状态而不会遭遇开裂等不良的副作用。
Special Care and Handling
Stone Group Laboratories of Missouri had similar positive
reports on the stability of the current Welo area productions. When
many stones were immersed and then left to dry repeatedly (12
times), there was no cracking or change from their original
appearance. The laboratory subjected smaller stones to high heat in
order to rapidly dehydrate water-soaked stones and found them to be
stable even under these conditions. They did further studies on
care and handling and strongly recommend that you do not experiment
by immersing these opals in water or other liquids or oils, since
contamination can occur, leaving residues within the opal. This can
eventually change the original body color or the way light is
transmitted by the stone, which in turn may affect the color play
or brilliance. Immersing hydrophane opal underwater may, in rare
cases, cause stress from uneven expansion, which can create a crack
similar to those caused by sudden shock. Chances increase if the
water temperature is at odds with the stone temperature, if the
stone had any previous trauma or if it is set into jewelry. The
time period for dehydrating can be minutes to more than a week and
will vary depending on stone body type, size and environmental
conditions. Do not try and speed up the natural drying process by
placing in an oven, under a hot light or hair dryer!
美国密苏里州的Stone
group实验室提交了关于Welo矿的稳定性报告，结果显示良好。在实验中他们将样品繁复浸泡和干燥12次，实验后的表面与实验前相比，没有发现任何开裂和碎的现象。实验室也设定了实验，将小块浸水后的矿石样品放置在高温下进行烘干，测试结果依旧稳定。他们做了很多更有挑战性的实验（但是强烈建议各位不要拿自己的opal试手！），他们将opal分别放在水里，其他液体里还有油里，这些往往可能导致opal被污染的情况出现，而其成分也会残留在opal里，最后导致opal的华彩和艳光被影响（原文用的affect，这是个中义词，anyway我觉得不太可能是好的影响，应该可以理解为弱化）。当然，将opal泡在水中在极稀有的情况下可能会出现裂纹的现象（原翻把may翻译成了五月，略无语），裂纹成因是因为不均匀的吸水压，给Opal本身带来的冲击就好像忽然的外力撞击一样，从而导致了裂纹。而如果石头本身的温度和opal的温度不同，这样的温差也令出现裂纹的几率翻倍，而那些曾受过撞击伤的opal以及一些经过了镶嵌的opal也可能导致开裂几率的上升。Opal的干燥用时因具体石头而已，主要取决于其大小，种类还有当时的外界环境等等诸多条件，不可概论。在这里提醒各位Opal的干燥过程请顺其自然，意思就是请不要用烤箱来烘干，不要用大太阳晒干，也不要拿你的吹风机去吹干（以上都是花样作死干燥法）。
Do not fear accidental situations such as dropping your opal
into a wash basin or getting caught in the rain; the absorption is
not immediate and requires more time than a quick dip. Like most
gems, opal should be handled and cleaned with care. Never use a
steamer or ultrasonic, keep away from harsh cleaning agents,
perfume, hand soap, high temperatures or sudden temperature
changes; simply wipe with a clean soft cloth.
Stress tests are done under laboratory-controlled conditions
with distilled water and temperature monitoring. Other tests were
made with the knowledge that losses may occur – like soaking in hot
tea or immersing after exposing a stone to stress. We commission
these types of studies so that we can advise you of all the
necessary precautions and possibilities and so you will not take
risks with your purchases. These opals are natural- not
manufactured- and as such, will vary in their individual
properties.
如果是你的Opal不小心掉到洗脸盆或者出门不小心淋了雨的话，你无需过度担心。因为opal对液体的吸收不是即滴即吸，而是需要较长时间来慢慢吸水的。绝大部分的宝石都需要护理和情结，opal当然也不例外。求别用蒸汽啊超声波去清洗，也不要让你的opal接触清洁剂，香水，香皂之类的化学品，避免高温或忽然的温差改变。（opal的清洁）用柔软干净的布轻轻擦拭即可。（译者Ray按：opal又娇又嫩，对温度，外力，化学物品都很敏感，请像对待小龙女一样的对待她好么，感谢）
实验室做压力测试这些都是用的蒸馏水，且温度被仪器监测掌控。而我们其他的一些实验就是针对opal的伤点进行了——比如故意把opal丢到热茶里啦，又比如先给石头加个压然后再浸水啦。我们干这些（坑爹）事情的原因是为了防范于未然，（以做了以后的惨烈结果）提醒各位各种导致opal受损的可能，从而让你买的安心，买的放心。这些Opal都是纯天然无添加无人工的，所以也表现各异。
I have bought and sold opals from all sources for a long time
and am thrilled with the variety of body colors, patterns, and
especially the brilliance of colors that Welo opal displays. Many
exhibit brilliance on a scale not seen since the early Andamooka,
South Australian productions. Further, beautiful, high-dome cabs
are available that best show the beautiful play of color in opal.
Welo is as important to the opal business today as the Australian
mines were in the previous century. The cornucopia of opal
varieties that can imitate Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Andamooka,
Mexico or Brazilian opal from this new discovery alone will
continue to bring excitement back to this “Queen of Gems” for many
years to come.
我作为opal销售商买入和卖出opal都已经很多年了，而我非常欣喜于welo矿的opal所表现出的各种体色（就是opal的底色），蕴含的彩斑，以及华丽的色彩光华。Welo矿珍品华美繁多，可谓自南澳的Andamooka矿出现后的又一新秀。此外，漂亮的，高穹顶的Opal石也在welo矿成为可能（这里的意思是Opal一般很薄，往往没有足够的厚度做出较高（或者叫较厚）的裸石，然而较高或者较厚的裸石往往能将opal的华丽幻彩表现得极致。因此，welo矿对于今天的Opal业来说可谓相当重要，（潜力无穷，）堪比澳洲矿上个百年间的唯我独尊。曾经，闪电领,Coober
pedy,
Andammoka,墨西哥opal，巴西opal，都曾闪亮登场，而welo矿身为他们的后辈，势必也会为opal这珠宝界的女皇带来长年的昌盛繁华。
译者按：此文是 George Williams所写, 发表于JTV，
JTV是一个珠宝公司，身份是JTV Senior Gemstone
Buyer，意思就是该公司的珠宝买手。基本是是一篇带有研究性质的珠宝软文，而不是论文。实验数据没有reference，但是老外一般不会撒谎，所以Welo应该是比较稳定的。具体有木有那么好还要更多文献的支持。Ray非珠宝专业人士，但是在西方体系完成学业，对严谨性和客观性都比较注重，因此特别写此按。全文采取意译，个别字句不同但是大意一致。希望能对大家有所帮助。谢谢。
加载中，请稍候......
加载中…