PRACTICAL SHOPPING GUIDE: Unfortunately, I am unable to provide personal attention and advice to everyone, because I get sick quite often, and I only have the time to fulfill orders but not respond to every question from people, which is sad considering that I enjoy communicating with customers and personally helping them with their orders.I realize that potential buyers have to be informed about the products, and the store has to function as a self sufficient entity that does not take up my entire life, so I am working on editing the information I provide in each listing and in various sections of the shop to make the most important information readily available to people. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU READ THE SHOP’S POLICIES, CARE INSTRUCTIONS, FAQs TO LEARN ABOUT RETURN POLICY CONDITIONS, PROCESSING AND SHIPPING, POSSIBLE DELAYS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE GEMSTONES AND OTHER MATERIALS I WORK WITH; Whenever a situation occurs that I am unable to answer questions from all customers, you can use these 3 sources of information to get an accurate description of every item offered at the shop.  ____________________________________________________3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO HELP YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE HAPPY WITH AND WHAT YOU SHOULD AVOID ▪️I spend a lot of time and effort to try and come up with better ways of representing the jewelry I sell as close to its actual appearance as possible. This includes 3 components/sources: 1. WRITTEN DESCRIPTION of each individual item, shop’s policies and conditions, specific details of certain gemstones, difference between item variations, care instructions and tips etc., 2. LISTING IMAGES and LINKED PHOTOS illustrate the appearance of each item and its variations represented by options in the drop down menu in each listing ., 3. VIDEO AND PHOTO ARCHIVES provide view at real life interaction between a particular gemstone and the light, which in many cases, is the most important property determining the value; WHENEVER I AM NOT AVAILABLE, YOU CAN SIMPLY USE THESE 3 SOURCES AND THE ARTICLES POSTED BELOW, TO NAVIGATE THROUGH OPTIONS AND SELECT THE PIECE OF JEWELRY WHICH IS THE BEST CHOICE BASED ON YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES, LIFESTYLE, BUDGET AND ESTHETIC EXPRESSION. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO USE ALL 3 OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION TOGETHER, AND NOT LIMIT YOUR DECISION MAKING TO A SINGLE PHOTO OUT OF 10 PROVIDED IN ONE LISTING AND ASSUME THAT THIS IS WHAT YOUR ITEM IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE. EVERY BUYER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR READING THE ENTIRE ITEM DESCRIPTION IN ORDER TO AVOID MISSING THE KEY INFORMATION THEY HAVE TO KNOW TO HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OR TO BE AWARE OF THE CARE REQUIRED FOR A PARTICULAR ITEM. ________________________________________________________ Item description may contain multiple links to video and photo galleries and other types of  media, which can serve as a complimentary guide for people considering to make a purchase at my shop I have learned this through experience of working with natural gemstones that to provide accurate description of an item you have to employ as many tools as you can and only their cumulative effect will render an objective picture Every "ITEM DESCRIPTION" contains written description, listing images with LINKED PHOTOS and VIDEO PHOTO GALLERIES TO VIEW OPTIONS, COMPARE AND PICK THE ONE FOR YOU. There have been some really tricky things described prevpiously, which revealed that the photos of the natural fire opal are very unreliable to base your decision to buy an item solely on still images. Even video clips have limited value, because they also require strong light in or to show the play of color or sparkling fire in moissanite gemstones. Color on photo and video clips is quite unstable and might lean to being too intense or too dull - it is necessary to read each item description with each gemstone described and evaluated to be able to have an objective picture of what you can expect from a certain gemstone and its variations, which are also illustrated via a LINKED PHOTO attached to every option in the drop down menu. ONLY A LINKED PHOTO should be used to determine the expected amount of fire, brightness, color range, quality etc., of every single stone and its variation. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE A LINKED PHOTO THEN DO NOT BUY THAT OPTION - YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. You have to like what you see on the linked photo and other listing images to lesser extent in order to decide to purchase the item. And finally, look for a video clip of the item in the video gallery or photo gallery - you might find the actual video of the actual gemstone that you are interested in, because I try to keep the galleries current. DO NOT RELY ON A SINGLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION TO DECIDE WHETHER YOU LIKE THE ITEM OR NOT. Use other tools provided to you, and you will be able to make the best choice of the jewelry piece you want to buy with no room left for assuming or guessing what exactly an item is going to look like; ▪️I spend a lot of time and effort to try and come up with better ways of representing the jewelry I sell as close to its actual appearance as possible. Using more than a single method of representation is the best possible way to show any item in all objectivity: 1. WRITTEN DESCRIPTION of each individual item, shop’s policies and conditions, specific details of certain gemstones, difference between item variations, care instructions and tips etc., 2. LISTING IMAGES and LINKED PHOTOS illustrate the appearance of each item and its variations represented by options in the drop down menu in each listing ., 3. VIDEO AND PHOTO ARCHIVES provide view at real life interaction between a particular gemstone and the light, which in many cases, is the most important property determining the value; ___________________________________________________________________ WHENEVER I AM NOT AVAILABLE, YOU CAN SIMPLY USE THESE 3 SOURCES AND THE ARTICLES POSTED BELOW, TO NAVIGATE THROUGH OPTIONS AND SELECT THE PIECE OF JEWELRY WHICH IS THE BEST CHOICE BASED ON YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES, LIFESTYLE, BUDGET AND ESTHETIC EXPRESSION. ____________________________________________ LINKED PHOTOS AND WHAT THEY ARE FOR: Each listing featuring naturalopal jewelry (particularly BLACK OPAL) is going to have variations in opal quality grade in its drop down menu. To illustrate each variation perfectly I will be editing listings, so that they have menu options listed with a LINKED PHOTO, which will replace the main photo whenever you select one of the variations by clicking on it.  The photo linked to that menu option illustrates what that opal category is going to look like in terms of brightness, colors, intensity, etc,. Use the LINKED PHOTOS to guide you and help you navigate through listings with ease: simply look only at a linked photo to decide whether this option is good for you or you will not be happy with this stone.   Typically you will see this choice between the 3 quality grade/brightness opal categories and each one will have a different price: AAAA opal is priced the highest and AA+ the lowest.  The majority of gemstones I sell fall under the AAA category ,and are standard high quality, free of defects, bright with visible play of color stones that will please most people.  AAAA opals usually have an unusually high amount of red color, so because it is a rare color and it adds instant brightness to the stone - these opals are valued higher and I price them higher as well.   Previously I used to sell these exceptional stones as AAA opals without making a distinction until recently it became more difficult for me to find these stones.  AA opals are much cheaper, and do not belong to this shop, because they do not meet the quality standard,  but I decided to add this option in case anyone would want to buy a darker gemstone. With AA opal you will not be able to see fire under natural light, only under strong artificial light. Natural light makes every opal look duller, but in case of a AA opal it will render all of its visible fire dark and devoid of any fire.  These are very significant differences in appearance and correspond to the differences in pricce.  Linked photos will prevent situations when a buyer chooses the cheapest opal by price, but would expects to get the best stone pictured in the listing photo, because this is how our mind works sometimes: we have unrealistic expectations from what we are ready to spend , and keep hoping that it might just happen as we pictured in our mind. This of course makes no logical sense and by viewing a linked photo attached to the AA variation the expectations will get straightened out and a potential dissatisfied customer will choose something else.  Because of this possibility of incorrect assumption, I am editing the listings with LINKED PHOTOS attached to a specific variation you may select in the menu: the photo will change depending on what choice you make.  The photo you see when making your selection should be your MAIN GUIDE regarding the appearance of the stone you are purchasing. If you don't like what you see on a linked photo - DON'T BUY IT.  The responsibility to make the right choice lies with the buyer provided that the ACCURATE INFORMATION about every option and what to expect from any particular choice of opal is READILY AVAILABLE to everyone and the difference is explained and visually illustrated.    Buyers are strongly advised to read information I provided for them in the item description and the FAQ section where I am going to put my store’s return policy and other important conditions to help prevent unnecessary returns  Please remember that we are dealing with something that was made especially FOR YOU: it might be considered a custom order in a broader sense. ——————————————————————————————————Information Transparency I AM WORKING ON EDITING THE SHOP TO MAKE IT FULLY TRANSPARENT AND SELF-SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE BUYERS WITH A SOURCE OF 100% RELEVANT, HONEST AND UNBIASED INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHOP, THE PROCESS OF CREATING EACH ITEM, MY RETURN POLICY AND CONDITIONS, PROVIDE EVERYONE WITH NECESSARY CARE INSTRUCTIONS BASED ON SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF SOME GEMSTONES AND MORE,,,---------------------------- The reason for making the store self-sufficient: During the times when I am unavailable due to my chronic illness, which limits my ability to work so much that I have to come up with alternative solutions how to care for my customers in the best way possible without having to be physically present to give them best advice, provide guidance and explanation about certain topics, which can be simply accessed by people at any time through my shop-------------------------------- Why you need this too: I BELIEVE IN BEING 100% TRANSPARENT AND HONEST WITH MY CUSTOMERS REGARDING THEIR CHOICES AND EXPECTATIONS, AND WOULD LIKE THEM TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE MATERIALS, THE PROPERTIES AND FEATURES OF SOME GEMSTONES I SELL, WHICH CAN POTENTIALLY INCREASE OR REDUCE THE VALUE OF THE JEWELRY. IT IS IMPORTANT TO ENABLE POTENTIAL BUYERS TO HAVE CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VARIATIONS IN QUALITY GRADE, COLORING, BRIGHTNESS OR COLOR RANGE OF NATURAL GEMSTONES, SO THEY CAN DETERMINE WITH CONFIDENCE WHAT COMBINATION OF MATERIALS INCLUDING A GEMSTONE CHOICE PROVIDED AS AVAILABLE OPTIONS IS THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR THEM AT THE MOMENT. Buyers can use LINKED PHOTOS to be able to see examples of what every option provided in the menu is going to look like with certainty and without hoping to get the stone you see on a single photo out of 10 listing images______________________AS LONG AS THE INFORMATION PROVIDED TO PEOPLE IS CORRECT AND COVERS MOST OF THE TOPICS PEOPLE WILL NO LONGER NEED GUIDANCE PROVIDED TO THEM BY ME ON PERSONAL LEVEL, BECAUSE I AM NOT ABLE TO BE THERE FOR EVERY CUSTOMER WITH THE RIGHT ADVICE, WARNING OR PERSONALIZED PHOTO ALBUMS CREATED INDIVIDUALLY FOR EVERY CUSTOMER. BEING TRANSPARENT AND INFORMING PEOPLE ON EVERYTHING THEY MIGHT NEED TO KNOW IS THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY TO TAKE THE GUESS WORK , ASSUMPTIONS, UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS AND SO ON SO FORTH OUT OF THE ORDERING PROCESS.