Ethiopian Welo Opal
Our Ethiopian Opals are sourced from the area of Welo, a new field only worked in the last few years. Anthropologists, however, have reported that mankind used this opal to make tools in around 4,000 years BC, which means that Africa mined opals even before Australia! Very new on the modern market, these opals are so affordable when you consider how fiery the stones are. Compared to Australian opals, they are softer, so more care should be taken with delicate jewellery. The high degree of transparency in Ethiopian opal means the colours are evenly spread through the entire gem, often resulting in bold rainbow iridescence. In fact, the number of colours in a single piece is very rarely seen in Australian material!
Sterling Silver (925%)
Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.
