Witches Hat Nobby

Witches Hat Nobby Opal are unique to Lightning Ridge and is easily recognisable from its peaked form on top of the rough opal piece.

Working Through The Witches Hat

This gorgeous Witches Hat Nobby seems to be clean and pronounced — yet it can be quite common for sand to rise up through the bottom into the color bar.
As we push through the sand and potch, we can finally see the color starting to appear — although there is so much sand, way more than I expected.
Drum roll please — ‘I’m going in’.
Ah yes! We have some intense color bubbling up through the tip, it’s gone right up into the peak!
Once we navigate through all the sand and inclusions, I think we may have decent gem.

Spoiler Alert

Prior to the final cut, the gem weighed in at 7.35ct and I made the decsion to keep it as a freeform shape.
As a freeform, it allows me to keep as much color as possible.
The final opal finished at 6.19ct — I was hoping for 10ct, however expected 4-5ct — so this was a great result.
Finally, you can find the finished cut gem here – https://blackopaldirect.com/product/dark-opal/6-19-ct-dark-opal-21-1×9-6×5-5mm/
In addition, if you would like to see another Witches Hat Nobby video, you can find the blog post here.