Today Justin shows you a top gem black opal being recut. A customer sent the opal because it was slightly out of shape and didn’t present well, considering an asking price of around $50,000.
Justin shows us how he works to the stone to reshape it to ensure that the gem looks its best.
The art of cutting top gem black opal is like driving. You can be a good driver, but to be a Formula 1 driver, you have to be super experienced and skilful. Cutting gem opal is a bit like this too. So often, we will see stones that are not cut to their best advantage; the shape might be off, the dome not as pronounced or pleasing to the eye and sometimes the stone can still have hidden beauty.
Justin mentions this issue in the video – where the colour is still hidden slightly. A less experienced cutter might grind the stone down to the colour bar and stop, but, perhaps, if they ground further, the color may be intensified and improve. But, for most of us, and me even writing this, it makes my heart quicken – oh, the gamble if you don’t know what you are doing and you accidentally grind the colour away!
Have you taken a gamble with colour? Has it paid off, or have you cried in your soup? I love to hear your stories!
