"What a score": Woman finds rare gems in Vinnie's op shop
One lucky thrift shopper has stumbled upon a rare find in her local charity shop, spotting stunning opal earrings on sale for just $2.
The shopper took to Facebook to share her find, posting a photo of the gold earrings adorned with a series of blue opals that she got from a Vinnie's op-shop in Queensland.
Many were quick to agree that they were "such a rare find" because of the low price, as admirers described the jewellery as "Pretty", "amazing" and "beautiful".
"Holy moly," one person exclaimed. "I can't breathe," one other said. "What a score," another agreed.
While some people were skeptical that the gems weren't real, others said, "There's no way someone would set that many beautiful opals into costume jewellery so I'd say you have found a unicorn there."
"They most certainly look genuine opal and diamond," another agreed — and so do the experts.
Sebastian Heffernan from Lightning Ridge Opal mines told Yahoo News that while it's difficult to determine based on photos alone, the opals "don't appear to be fake".
"It's normally pretty obvious when they are," he explained. "They would look a little bit too perfect a lot of the time. Whereas these ones, you can see that some of them have little dots of colour, some have medium flashes."
Assuming the opals are real but the diamonds are fake and the gold is plated, rather than solid, Sebastian guessed the earrings could sell for just couple of hundred.
However, Wayne Sedawie, who owns Opal and Gem Stone Auctions, reckons the lucky thrifter could fetch close to $1,000 for the earrings, if resold or cashed in to a reseller, and suggested she get them valued.
"It's definitely good to maybe get them looked at by someone in person because they do look quite nice from the photo, and the metal itself could be worth a little bit if it is actual gold," Sebastian added. "But either way, two bucks is an absolute steal".
"That's such a great find. They're beautiful," Wayne agreed. "Just clean them up and they'll last a thousand years."
Image credits: Facebook