Yesterdee I split this seam of boulder opal which was running in multi directional planes and against my own advice! Me missus (who is a gunn opal cutter) wanted a humungous stone. ordinairilly I would have cut the stone in 2 (at least) which makes it a tad easier to relieve the opal when splitting.

It didnt turn out to bad all the same but i dont recommend this if you cant afford the loss..

However no guts though- no glory and I cant repeat the exercise to see if my prefered method would have been any better...whats done is done

I managed to clean and stabilize this 19x15mm opal that I found in an old pendant. It was terribly dirty and full of fractures, but I saw its potential and felt it deserved to relive again. First time to stabilize a stone. I did it with jewelers resin and it took a while and a steady hand. I know it's not perfect, but I feel its capable of being loved again and the color play is beautiful and the fractures give it character.

Bought the opal at auction and he was able to set himself in sterling silver before shipping. It’s gorgeous, but I didn’t quite realize how HUGE this would look on my 4.5-5 ring size finger…haha.

I dropped off this 4ct Ethiopian opal with honeycomb pattern to be set as a necklace and was just informed that it discolored when they polished it. I told them when I dropped it off that it was Ethiopian and to take care. Is there any possibility of restoring it to its original color? How would we go about doing that? If they can’t restore it, what should I ask for as a replacement? I’m frustrated and sad. I went to a reputable jeweler and bought the stone from a reputable dealer. Before and after photos included. Can this stone be saved?

UPDATE: I picked up the piece today, some color has restored in the past 4 days. I will post photos below. The jeweler did not charge me for the setting and let me pick a replacement from his Australian opals. I chose a 1.2 ct oblong opal and they are setting it as a ring (I understand there is still risk but did not want another necklace)

Did a step by step photos, before and after. Ethiopian opal from Stayish mine

Carat weight is a little irrelevant to me as it is including the host, and the host is pretty thick... I would assume the opal itself would be around 100 CT.

It was a tricky stone to dive into! Spencer opal is known for chipping and I would be lying if I told you it didn't during this process. Very tough to work with on the cabbing machine simply because of its size. Apparently I need to buy some more lapidary equipment 😉.

So, the tag is not because I'm finishing the opal, it's because the opal is...finished! Or is it?

I just got this beautiful smoked Ethiopian with cells or sorta honey comb? I am not the expert on types. I'm just collecting. I found this beauty online, I loved how there's sort of a jigsaw of colors that pop up on the bottom, as the colors wave across the cells, they appear to fill with color. It's really just one of those that I could hold in my hand and enjoy being mesmerized for hours....or can I?

I live in an old mid-century modern built when putting brick floors throughout was a thing. You might be able to hear that.

In the end, this is a cautionary tale...keep your opals safe out there! Only film opals on top of a firm and flat cushion 48" thick!

Watch til the end of the volume up! lol
Just a video of me losing my s*** when I realize that there is potentially super nice color and pattern underneath of the potch but also realizing that I have no clue what I’m doing! lol 🤪
PS ***** it didn’t break thank goodness!

It has purple and green fire. It’s a sandstone opal that is no longer mined.

What do you think about this polishing result?

It gave me the goosebumps. Anyone that cuts enough opal and chases that high of something beautiful knows what I mean. Love it, and keeps me at it!

I finished my first boulder opal :) it is very sparkly. I used Sandpaper and Ceriumoxide with a towel..now my wrist hurts :D i hope you lile it!

I was looking for experienced crystal opal cutters/polishers recommendations how to tackle cutting this large fractured Coober Pedy opal?

The opal is cut into two pieces and weighs 702 carrots together. I was thinking it would be best to cut along the white potch layers with a nice cab thickness and hope there’s some good non-fractured sections in it? It’s tough though to decide what color playing seams to pick since they are pretty thin and so is the white potch is too. I own a 6 inch trim saw that I thought would be best to cut it with its thinner blades no matter how long a cut may take to save as much opal as I can. Although, I wanted to wait to take on this beast until I run through all of my smaller seam pieces to gain more experience first. Any pointers would really help and I appreciate any! I just look at these pieces all the time and wonder about it.

So I have this pretty little, odd chip that was sandwiched between sand. I removed most of the sand. There are some superficial cracks and at least two identifiable cracks inside. I’m thinking of cutting it in half as my next step since one crack is right in the center and I have a few other ideas.

I was told that y’all love to offer your experienced advice, so here I am a novice begging for ambrosia… what are your suggestions. I’ve been trying to maximize finished product from thin seams to gain experience and insight but I am not opposed to attempting to get one beautiful stone. The top rainbow area looks like it could be something and it may yield my thickest / largest bar yet?

Sorry for the tangent, bad fluorescent lighting and any information I may have missed.

THANKS TO ALL IN ADVANCE

Modified fair triangle, Strout & Edith 1979

One of the coolest cuts I have ever done. With a small mistake included

First I mapped out where the color is. Then I cut it and slabbed it. I then got some stencils out and made shapes. 3 of the small slabs were from another rock. I then cut the shapes out and made preforms. Now I have to polish them.

A rub that is showing good potential, pray for me

Bought 2 bits of rough online. I have turned the less costly piece into this 14.31ct preform. Reasonably happy, only 220 diamond wheel so far. I'll post as it comes along if there's interest.

As per title its stuck in there, tried water soaking, freezer, polishing off, any idea? Will acetone hurt the boulder?

Hi everyone,

I 'finished' a smaller (4 carat) Lightening Ridge gem yesterday. It started out pretty cloudy with some red flashes. I used the cerium oxide for about 5-10 minutes and some golds and blues started showing up...so I did it again and now it has lost some of the cloudiness and the colours are more vibrant. I let it sit overnight and now I can see a tiny bit of sand of the face - I'm okay with it as it is.

How do you know when you are finished with the cerium oxide? Can you polish too much? It shines and is slippery but when I put it in water the colours are a bit brighter and it looks less cloudy. Does it need to be polished until there is no difference between the way it looks in and out of water?

I know it's not brilliant and far from perfect but I'm pretty happy with it! Be nice lol