Wishing all members, a happy Christmas and a safe prosperous new year.
OPAL NEWS
There appears to be a lot of happy faces in our industry. While the year ahead has challenges, the industry is very positive and more production on most of the fields is highly likely. It is pleasing to see that most of the sellers in Tucson who are members of the association have shown a united front by advertising together. I believe that it will be an immense success and the association plans to continue with this effort yearly. Working together to collectively promote opal as a gemstone choice instead of other coloured stones is a primary objective for the association while remaining competitive within the opal industry.
Last year we looked at changing the name to the Australian Opal Association, but we were told it was too close to other opal companies and couldn’t be registered but we will re assess the issue next year.
GOLD COAST MEETING
The December meeting was cancelled as we had 4 cancellations the last minute and couldn’t get a quorum-we should consider a conference call next year.
OPAL NONMENCULTURE
A meeting was held in Sydney by the opal association committee. It was agreed to adopt the main 8 categories on the flow chart which is attached. This has been agreed to by most of the other interested parties. The definitions and terminology are yet to be established and we encourage all your suggestions and inputs.
FLOW CHART extended231117[33348]
The definition of black opal being used to describe the appearance instead of being used exclusively for opals only from Lightning Ridge is attracting a lot of comment. I state that 75% of our members from the association surveyed were happy with N1 to N4 being black opal and N5 to N6 semi black opal. There is however some debate on the whether N5 to N6 should be called semi black OR dark opal. The term dark opal has not been accepted by the industry thus far. This was the result of a show of hands at a meeting mid-year. I also saw most members at the Gold Coast and Lightning Ridge shows. All effort was made to reach out to each member, but you may have been busy selling. We are aware that some opal retailers/duty free shops want every opal from the ridge called black opal. I believe that this is against our standards and against current gem industry certification. The word Black opal is a powerful respected” brand “name that needs clear definition and protecting. If the end customer only asks for black opal then its up to us to use more imagination in marketing and promoting all types of opal.!
One only need look at the ruby industry suffering negative news over the definition of Pigeon Blood ruby. Stones certified as pigeon blood command a higher price and as a result parties including dealers and certification labs have widened and relaxed their definitions causing end consumer confusion resulting in lack of confidence and sales.
Have a relaxing Christmas
Kind Regards
Paul Sedawie
President of the Opal Association