OPAL TRIPLETS

Triplet MAKING: Opal Triplets are three pieces glued together; a paper thin slice of Opal between a glass cabochon top, a paper thin slice of Opal and a flat bottom piece.

The bottom (backing) serves as a support for the thin slice of Opal and also as a protection for the Opal whilst being set into jewellery.

The domed glass top mainly serves to protect the thin slice of Opal, but it also somewhat helps the appearance of the Opal and are normally made from plain glass, optical glass or quartz.

In the “old days”, more than half a Century ago, the supporting backing was frequently made from the lowest grade Opal, “potch”, which basically has no colour.

But as the production rose astronomically, due to demand from the German jewellery trade which promoted Opal by making it the gemstone of the year, which went on for years..., ceramic replaced potch which was later replaced with super thin glass, microscope slides.

The process of making Triplets starts with selecting suitable rough Opal for cutting into Triplets; not ALL rough is suitable.

Next is to put the Opal through a multi bladed saw with extremely thin saw blades, a bit like putting a loaf of bread sideways into a machine that slice the whole loaf in one go.

After slicing, the paper-thin Opal slices have now become very transparent and are glued onto the glass slides which have been prepared by painting them black or mixing black colour in with the glue.

This makes the transparent White Opal appear as if Black Opal and all the colours that weren't very visible before suddenly becomes very bright and visible against that black background.

Next, the top is glued onto the Opal followed by the final stage where excess Opal is ground off to make the shape as wanted.

Over the years, many different types of glues have been used to glue (cement) the three pieces together; some with better success than others, but whichever is used, it is critical that all areas to be glued are free of grease and dirt.

Triplet CARE:

Manufacturers, Jewellers and Owners:  Basically, there are four reasons why a triplet may be damaged and, as most glues dries and/or become brittle over the years, special care must be taken.

1) Pressure; do NOT use gemstone setters that are too heavy handed and/or have no experience with setting Opal Triplets. 

The slice of Opal is so thin that heavy pressure or worse, hammering when setting a Triplet can result in a crack in the Opal slice yet absolutely no damage to the glass top. 

Finding cracks in the Opal, which many times were running from one claw to another, is something experienced on a number of occasions over the years when picking up from the setter. 

Also, it is very important, if not critical, that a proper seating of the Opal is prepared; it should either be that the back of the stone firmly rest on something firmly or that ONLY the edge of the glass top have a seat.

If the stone rest on the part of the stone where the pieces are joined, then pressure can cause the Opal slice to crack or layers to separate.

2) Vibration; do NOT put in ultrasonic machines or other vibrating equipment and avoid knocking it against anything hard.

3) Temprature; do NOT allow Triplets to be near anything very hot or very cold. 

Remove stone before resizing, careful when polishing, no hot liquid, no hair dryer and don't expose it to continuous wide changes in temperatures.

Like leaving it on the window sill with the sun baking on it, followed by a relatively cool night which cause expansion and contraction on a minute scale, but enough to cause stress between glue and glass and eventually loss of adhesion.

4) Chemicals; do NOT expose the Triplet to chemicals, like acetone, shampoos etc., as many will either dissolve or soften the super thin layer of glue. 

NO jewellery set with gemstones should be worn whilst nail polish removing (Acetone!), washing dishes, on the beach, in swimming pools, bath or shower.

Apart from the fact that many gemstones can be physically affected and change their appearance, soap etc. will accumulate behind faceted stones and "...my stone is not glistening any more..." 

And yes; doing things like gardening with bare hands wearing ANY type of jewellery is a sin!

“My Opal Triplet has got water inside and lost it’s colours, it's gone gray..."

Contrary to claims by people, even within the industry(?!?) that water has got inside between the Opal Triplet's layers, the fact is that there is no water inside, at all. 

If there was, the Triplet would not be grey, it would look perfectly normal as water is crystal clear, not gray. 

Leaving the Triplet to "dry out" in the sun for a day is NOT going change its appearance for the better, but dropping it into water will, provided the water is able to expel and replace the air inside.

What has in fact happened, is that for whatever reason, the glue which has been bonding the glass top with the paper-thin sliver of Opal underneath has lost its adhesion and there is no longer a contact between the two.

In the trade we refer to this action as the Triplet having "lifted" (the glass domed top has "lifted" itself from the Opal slice.)

And the grey that is seen appearing in the Opal Triplet is actually the bottom of the domed glass top which is slightly frosted; this is too help the glue get a good "grip" and make it stick better.

Triplet REPAIR: Yes, it is possible to repair a Triplet, but great care must be exercised and even then, it’s not always successful. 

There are a few ways an attempt can be made to repair a Triplet that has lifted, but first of all, the stone must be removed from its setting.

Method 1) Very carefully warm up the top of the Triplet by placing it onto something hot, but NOT so hot that your hand can’t hold or touch it. 

Or exposing it to heat by leaving it on a sunny window sill for some weeks, or months, until the WHOLE Opal appears grey, and NO part of the Opal can be seen as clearly as before.

When the whole Triplet has gone gray, that means the whole top is no longer attach to ANY part of the Opal and it should therefore be possible to remove the top from the Opal.

One drawback relating to the “artificial” speeding up of getting the top to separate from the Opal by using heat, is that the Opal may develop hairline fractures which, however, does not render the stone totally unusable; there are plenty of stones with cracks and inclusions yet still valuable.

Method 2) Find a gem cutter, preferably a gemstone faceter, that can carefully grind the top off, right down until it meets the glue, but a fraction of a mm more and the glue is gone, and the Opal itself is damaged!

This method has worked for me and is the quickest of them all, but comes at cost so its really only suitable for larger and/or more valuable stones.

Method 3) Leave the Triplet soaking for quite some time in Acetone, super glue solvent or some other liquid, possible for many weeks.

It may soften up the particular type of glue used, but it will also attack the glue holding the back onto the Opal which can lead to damage to the Opal slice. 

This soaking method can take a very long time before it reach the middle of the stone, especially a large stone.

Once the top has been removed, ALL glue must be removed, and both the Opal and the top must be carefully cleaned leaving no grease from fingers or dust after which the top can simply be glued back onto the Opal.

 

PLEASE NOTE: 

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