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Techniques for CollectorsGreen opals and water

5th Sep 2016 03:22 UTCMichal

Hello,

i have a question about opals.

I have been collecting green opal on a location in Czech republic.

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I found out, that soaking the green opal in water makes it significantly more beautiful and colorful. After they dry out they will still stay nicely green, but not as beautiful as when they were soaked.

So i had an idea... I would like to make a mason jar "aquarium" with my green opals. I would take a big mason jar, fill one third with sand, put my green opals on the sand, fill the jar with liquid and seal it with lid.

I think it would be a nice decoration and the opals would look beautiful in liquid.

I figured i can't use water, because it will spoil after some time. I want this to last for years so i was thinking about using vodka insted of water, because vodka basically never spoils.

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Bud i have a few concerns and questions regarding this idea.

1) Can the alcohol in vodka do some damage to the opals? Especially in the long term...

2) Will the opals absorb the vodka and become more vibrant as it is with water or will the alcohol in vodka somehow prevent the absorbtion? I've read somewhere that alcohol actually dries thing out.

3) Would some other liquid be more suitable for this kind of "project"?

4) Can you store opals in liquid permanently? Can they for example become over saturated and crack or something?

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Thank you very much for any help, ideas, suggestions. :)

Michal

5th Sep 2016 03:39 UTCDoug Daniels

Alcohol (of any type) is a dessicant - it tends to dry things out. So, don't use vodka (drink it instead). You might see what something like mineral oil does to some pieces - it may have the same effect as water (works pretty well with precious opal). Looks like a very interesting find of opal you have!

5th Sep 2016 07:37 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

I have used vodka and tequila for preserving very hydrous minerals. Pure alcohol can dehydrate them, but normal liquors (which are commonly 40% alcohol) will be OK.

I did do the mistake of accidentally ruining some nice gemmy melanterite crystals once with pure ethyl alcohol, but later found that 40% alcohol caused no trouble. Another recipe is 20% ethyl alcohol in a saturated salt (NaCl) solution, which prevents growth of any algae or mold in the liquid.

21st Sep 2016 11:25 UTCPaul Stephen Cyr

Glycerin might work well for this project. I have been using it to store amber in small vials, and they look very nice. Should make your opal's colors pop. Nice looking material by the way!

21st Sep 2016 12:01 UTCAmir C. Akhavan Expert

> I figured i can't use water, because it will spoil after some time.

A copper coin in the water will prevent the growth of bacteria or fungi.

21st Sep 2016 12:50 UTCJohn Collins

Why not just take your mix of sand and water and boil it (in the jar) along with the lid in the boiling water (as thought you were in the process of bottling preserves.) When this has cooled, pour off some of the water, and can then add your opals to the jar after removing them from the separate container that contained your 40% alcohol preserver. Tightly seal the lid of your mix and there you go.

Over time, opals will loose some of the water that is part of their molecular makeup so storing them in water is superior to storing them in alcohol for the long term.

21st Sep 2016 13:33 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Is this really opal? looks a lot like varicite.

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