Opals
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Opal Watches
Need an upgrade? Treat yourself to one of our stunning opal-inset watches, certain to grab attention and (hopefully) get you there on time!
Mosaic opal watches are very popular, as they display brilliant colour at only a fraction of what a solid-gem opal watch would cost.
A mosaic opal watch has three components.
First, a thin slice of small pieces is glued closely together, resulting in fire colours and high visual impact. There are several grades of opal chips used and this does affect the price of the watch
AAAAA grade opal chips are extremely bright and colourful but they are hard to find now
Commercial grade chips have softer leady hues colour but still flash good opal colours
Second, the mosaic opal is glued on black backing, greatly enhancing its fire colour.
Most opal chips come from Coober Pedy in south Australia. The opal bearing dirt is drilled and sucked by massive vacuum machine to surface and person sitting in an enclosed box in high heat has ultra violet lights and picks out the opal chips.
The opal is graded into jars and sold by ounce
When sent to Asia, the opal chips are again graded
And sides have to be smoothed even so a worker uses tweezers and magnifying glass to make lines on all the chips
Than another setter also with tweezers and magnifying glasses will glue the opal chips on thin plastic material that is painted black so the opal colours are enhanced
Once set the tops are smooth and polished so the clock hands run smoothly over the watches.
So if very labour intensive
Finally, a quartz top protects the face.
A solid watch is opal that is sliced and placed on brass base so to keep it even and flat
Andamooka treated opal is excellent for these watches as you will have a unique opal watch that no one else will own.
These solid opal watches are our most expensive watches.
Watch bands are adjustable and you have option to buy a s leather, leather imitation or stainless steel. Most large sizes for men are stainless steel adjustable links and imitation leather is now most popular and should last with everyday wear
and most opal watches contain Japanese or Swiss components.
Today watch movements are accurate and reliable
Batteries need to be changes annually to stay accurate
No need to take to jeweller as you only need strong pen knife to flick back open to exchange the battery
Jewellers have special equipment but a good knife is just a s good to open and replace the battery
Source your opal watch direct from opal wholesalers and jewelry manufacturers.
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