Opal Cutter An opal cutter or lapadist is a person who cuts and polishes opal from its rough state. The material called opal is made up of silica beads so the hardness is about a 6 on the hardness scale. An opal cutter has to be able to study rough opal and determine how to [...]
Boulder opal
Boulder opal is the most organic type of gemstone is the boulder opal. Being an opal that has a host-rock, the boulder opal forms in veins, fissures and cracks in the ironstone. The opal moves with the cracks in the ground making it undulate, so the face of a cut and finished boulder opal will [...]
Boulder Opal Pendant
All opal is different with no piece of opal that looks the same. Unique types of opal jewelry are different the world around. The most individual type of opal is boulder opal. Since boulder opal is formed in curving seams in the brown ironstone, the shapes can be undulating or very uneven. So making the [...]
Boulder Opal Jewelry
Most people think of opal as a white oval shaped cheap jewelry in trinket stores. What people don’t realize is that opal from Australia comes in many different forms, colors, sizes, and values. Boulder opal is a form of opal that is really unseen by most people in the world. Boulder opal comes from Queensland [...]
Australian Boulder Opal
Boulder opal has become a more popular type of opal next to black opal from Lightning Ridge and can reach prices almost as high as black opal. Most boulder opal has an undulating face as the seams are usually not straight. This means the cutting of the boulder opal can be more tiresome and messy [...]
Opal Matrix
Matrix when referred to opal can be a number of different things. The most commonly known type of opal matrix is Andamooka Matrix. Andamooka matrix is a treated type of opal. The color will only be visible when it has been treated by boiling it in sugar and then using acid to treat it. Even [...]