Watch the process of an opal being found, cut and then sent on the journey to you. Justin takes you from underground in Lightning Ridge to the cutting wheel then to the big smoke were the opal finds a home.
Read MoreThe Life Of An Opal
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Cutting large opals to perfection
Cutting large opals takes some time and effort. In this video Justin goes through the process once the stone has been rubbed into a rough shape. He starts on the 360 grit diamond wheel and then progresses to a 600 grit soft nova wheel then a 1200 grit until he ends up on the felt wheel with cerium oxide. Along the way he shares some tips and tricks when cutting such a large stone. It’s a long video at over 20 minutes but an excellent one to sit down and really study as you get to see exactly what Justin does when cutting. How he moves the stone around the wheels…
Read MoreThe Amazing Women in Opal
It’s International Women’s Day today and I started thinking about all the women I have known and collaborated with over the years in the opal industry. Many of these women are unknown and unsung beyond our small pond. They are miners, advocates, educators, jewelers, opal merchants and artists. Some have a profile and others work behind the scenes. Here is a small image of some of those women. There are many more but these are the ones who were easy to find images of on Google! To all the fearless Australian Opal women I want to salute you. Working in this very male-centric field has been a blessing and a curse but…
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