Featured Looking for help identifying gemstones

I inherited this Opal and 14K/585 gold crab brooch, and I am curious about what type of gemstones the small red stones might be. Is it garnet? Also, is this considered white/light opal? I'm assuming the clear gems are diamonds since the piece is made with precious metals and gems. I was thinking of selling it since never wear brooches, but I'd like to know more about it and its value range before I decide. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

I love crabs as jewellery motifs. If you sell, you're going to have to have the nature of the white stones confirmed, not just assume. The eyes might be little rubies; the little rubies might be lab grown. The opal is a doublet; the black you see on the back is a separate layer. It is light opal as opposed to black opal; I would not call it white opal.

 

Those might well be rubies, in a nice karat gold setting. The clear stones??? I'd guess white sapphire. The opal is probably a doublet, with a dark backing added to enhance the colors. Beyond that, I'm not an opal expert. Nice pin though!

 

And Brownwen and I posted at the same time. With the same ideas.

 

Never assume, I have had glass stones set in gold!

 

If you do decide to sell it make plans to sell it at least a month or so before the month the opal is the "birthstone" for.

 

One good possibility. Another is white topaz, which has a lot of flash when it's clean.

 

October. But you could also sell it now for July birthdays of people whose sign is Cancer.

 

True, true, Bronwen.

 

Cut little guy.
I'd keep him and wear him as a necklace - it has a loop for a chain.

 

Gorgeous little crab, MT, and welcome.
Without testing it is impossible to say exactly what the little stones are.
Is the crab Australian made? 1970s maybe? Could we see a close-up of the mark?
If we know who made it, and when, it may be possible to find out what the other stones are. Otherwise you'll have to get this beauty tested by a jeweller who is also a gemologist.

Strangely, light opals are called black opals by some, as long as they are solid, don't ask me why. It seems black means solid in that case.
This one isn't solid, so it would simply be called a doublet or triplet. The top surface seems to be slightly convex, in which case it could be a triplet, consisting of three layers, the top one being a convex cap. We'd have to see it sideways to ascertain it.

For both doublets and triplets the opal is sliced in a thin layer which is glued onto a base of another material. The triplet is given an extra transparent protective layer, which is convex.



The opal is an Australian pinfire opal, and it looks very much like opals from Lightning Ridge in NW New South Wales. New South Wales is a state in the east, the best known city is Sydney.

 

I see these often enough but the Internet wasn't yielding up anything similar when I went searching last night. I had typed that it is a black opal, then changed it because it doesn't look like the stones that were shown as distinctively black opal. Good to have a name for it. I have heard sort of grainy looking opals called 'sugar opals'. Considered mentioning triplets, but couldn't see whether upper surface is flat or convex. @MTswirls listen to AJ, she's giving you good info.