Chapter 576: 575. Jewel Legend (4)

In less than half an hour, a Toyota drove over.

This Japanese car is very popular in Arizona. Although the safety factor is lower than the same series of cars, it has fewer problems, consumes less fuel, and is easy to maintain.

There are many deserts in Arizona, and the roads are often flat. Toyota is overbearing and can run very well, and it has a lot of space inside, which is very suitable for such an environment.

Boss Owen, with a big belly, got out of the car and shook hands with Li Du very formally. His attitude was much more respectful than before: "Li, I am very glad to receive your call. Please come to my store to talk. Besides, are you really kidding?"

Li Du waved with a smile, and Godzilla pulled out the safe in the car with all his strength.

Da Ao came over to open the safe, and there were a bunch of small boxes inside. When he opened the box, there were all shining gems.

Its color is like fire, its light is gorgeous, and it is so beautiful that it is Opal.

Seeing these gems, Owen was moved immediately: "God, you did it! Have you dug the opal mine?"

Li Du laughed and said, "It's just luck."

Owen's shop is in Winslow. It is an old-fashioned jewelry store. The door is made of oak wood, which looks old. There are still a few old kerosene lamps hanging on the door.

Sophie said curiously: "We passed by here, but thought it was an antique shop."

Owen said with a smile: "In fact, this used to be an antique store. Since my father, our business has transitioned from antiques to jewelry."

Li Du's vision has improved a lot now, he looked at the kerosene chandelier hanging under the eaves of the entrance, and said, "They are not props, but real antiques, right?"

Mentioning these chandeliers, Owen showed a proud smile on his face and said, "Yes, buddy, I have to say, your vision is great."

"These four chandeliers are handed down from my ancestors. They have a history of at least two hundred years. They are the signature of our shop."

Sophie said in surprise, "Two hundred years? My God, Arizona wasn't part of the United States at that time."

Owen said proudly: "When our family came to Winslow, it was still a wilderness, and even the whole of Arizona was a big wilderness. Gradually, this place developed."

Compared with the antique shops, the decoration inside is much more modern.

The overall layout of the store is a bit like a maze, with a circle of bulletproof glass counters nestled in layers, and you can see the counters all around when walking inside.

The store is not big, and the business is not small. There are six employees working inside.

The counters are full of gemstones and ores of various colors, and there are spotlights on the corners of each counter, and the shimmering stones shine brightly, which is too beautiful to behold.

Owen brought Li Du into the office. Godzilla and Da Ao stood on both sides of the door with their hands on their stomachs, expressionless and majestic.

Seeing them, several people who were picking jewelry in the store asked the waiter: "What is the identity of this gentleman? He looks amazing."

The waiters looked at each other, they didn't know this either.

Li Du and Sophie sat down in the office, and Owen first asked them what they would like to drink.

After staying in the wilderness for two days, Li Du didn't want to drink and asked for plain water. Sophie obediently followed him and asked for water.

Owen was busy greeting them, and two other treasure appraisers in their fifties and sixties came in to appraise these gems.

Since its discovery in ancient Rome, opal has been of high value.

In the 1980s, when the monthly salary of Chinese people was less than 100 yuan, the price of the top black opal per carat started at 450 US dollars, and the price of more than 10 carats was as high as 7,500 US dollars per carat.

Of course, there is a premise here, that is the top black opal.

In recent years, the value of jewelry has increased further due to the overall peace in the world.

On average in the past 10 years, the appreciation rate of opal is about 10 times. Around 2001, the 50-carat opal raw stone that sold for 50,000 yuan is now sold for about 250,000 U.S. dollars, equivalent to 50,000 U.S. dollars per carat. thousands of dollars.

As the value of opal continues to rise, the output is gradually declining, so there are some fakes on the market, such as patch opal and synthetic opal, and appraisers are here to do this job.

While drinking water, Li Du asked, "Are there many fake opals?"

Owen said: "Many, but not to deceive customers, but it has become a new jewelry material. Many people can't afford natural opal and choose to buy artificial opal because it is also beautiful."

It is very simple to identify the authenticity of Opal, much simpler than identifying diamonds, rubies, etc., and merchants will not use this thing to fool customers.

Therefore, when buying, merchants will explain that they are combined or synthesized opals. These opals are of low value and still have the beauty of opals, which can attract many consumers.

The appraisal speed of the two appraisers is very fast. At the end of each piece of appraisal, they will write their evaluation on a small card instead of just telling the truth.

Li Du didn't know much about Opal, so he just took this opportunity to learn. He followed two appraisers, constantly watching their evaluations and asking questions.

The hardness of opal is not high, comparable to that of glass, with a glass to resin luster, and it is an amorphous crystal state.

Appraisers use two methods of identification, physical and chemical, and a large magnifying glass is used for physical identification.

"You see, when examined under magnification, natural opal has irregular flakes of color with flat, fuzzy borders and a silky surface appearance."

"Look at this again. Through the optical display mirror, natural opal has a special optical effect. This is the illusion effect, and this is the cat's eye effect."

"The cat's eye effect is rare. Once it occurs, it proves that the value of this opal is very high, and it has to be negotiated separately."

Appraisers not only identify true and false, but also identify the grade of gemstones.

There are many schemes for the classification of opal grades. The common ones are divided according to the number of body color and color-changing colors, such as single-color, three-color, five-color, seven-color and other varieties.

Among them, generally speaking, the more the number of color changes, the greater the color change intensity, and the higher the value.

In addition, other factors should be considered in the grading, such as the color of the embryo body, brightness, pattern style, color layer thickness, blemish condition, and color-changing game, etc., all of which play an important role in the value evaluation of Opal.

Li Du still underestimated this kind of gem. He had never heard of it before in China, so he thought it was a niche thing, and it was easy to learn related knowledge.

In fact, this is not the case at all. He knows little about Opal, not because this gemstone is not well-known, but because it has not opened up the Chinese market.

Because of historical and cultural reasons, Chinese people prefer jade and jadeite, and it is difficult for other gemstones to open up the market.

But in other places, such as Europe, the United States, Japan and even Hong Kong, Opal is very well known and the market is relatively mature.

Even half a century ago, the high-quality black opal discovered in Australia would not enter the civilian market at all, but would be dedicated to the British royal family and nobles, or sold to top European and American plutocrats. supplies.