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Gondar opal deposit is different from the Welo Deposit in Ethiopia. Just like material from Olympic Field is a bit different than material from Mintabi in Australia. Both deposits are very different from the nodule material found in the Rift Valley in the Shewa Provence in Ethiopia. The nodule material is the main source for your browns and contra-luz opals as well as most fire and crystal opals in Ethiopia that are found on the market today. The nodule opals tend to be very unstable and need to be stored in out of the soil for atleast a year before attempting to cut. In addition to this, the nodule opals MUST use a lot of water and go very slow in cutting. If any of theese steps are skipped the material usually shatters, cracks or crazes or all of the above. This is where the Gondar and Welo material is vastly different. Welo opals tend to have honey, tan, black, and yellow crystal base colors. Gondar opals frequently have colorless, blue to green translucent to transparent base colors. The material is usually good to cut after a few months out of the ground. Gondar material is not as thirsty as Welo and both tend to cut better DRY with light slow cutting and polish Slow as well. After 14400 grit it is ok to use water because the stones pores are practically fused. We polish to 500,000 grit using 3m Diamond lapping film. I have run the stones severial times with laundry detergent in warm wash and then the stones ended up in the dryer for a few hours. The opals showed no sign of cracking, crazing, or loss of colorplay. This doesn't mean you want to do this to test your material and under no certian term do you ever use an ultrasonic cleaner (the vibrations tend to crack opals). We do not use opticon or any natural or man made sealant for our stones. All of our hand cut opals have polished to .1 microns on a diamond lap pad. We average 2 pads per stone between 1-3cts and 1 pad for every 2cts after that. The pads are expensive and the labor in heavy at 4-5 hours per small stones and we have spent over 20 hours polishing by hand on opals in excess of 20cts. We are not the cheapest dealer out there but look around and ask if any other opal dealers offer a 2 year gurantee on their opals (especially thoose from Ethiopia!!) then think to yourself why would I not pay a little more for a more stable gemstone for yourself of as a gift to someone dear to you. Thank you for taking time to read our article on a wonderfull gemstone. Gary Aber Panjsher Gems International Http://www.panjsher-gems.com