400 Carat Opal

Starting with a massive 400 carat opal rough, I was on a mission to find out if this enormous piece could reveal something extraordinary.

This 110-million-year-old Lightning Ridge opal didn’t make it easy. Dense and full of mystery, it teased hints of color but left me second-guessing. As I sliced through, the true colors remained elusive, and my initial confidence wavered. Yet, the potential of black crystal within was too tempting to abandon.

The Turning Point

From frustration to discovery.
With each grind, hope started fading—the opal seemed determined to keep its secrets buried. The outer layers were mostly potch, and color was scarce. I hit a low, nearly scrapping the video and the stone altogether. My patience was wearing thin, but the desire to see what lay within kept me going. I wondered if I’d missed something crucial, or if I’d chosen the wrong way to cut into this ancient piece. The tension of working with such an unpredictable stone was building, yet that spark of curiosity—the belief that something stunning could be hiding—drove me to continue.

As a last resort, I sliced the opal into smaller sections, thinking it would be a total loss. Then, like a hidden treasure emerging from the depths, a glimmer of bright color finally broke through. These smaller cuts revealed matching opal pairs, each carrying flashes of blue and purple with streaks of potch, perfect for creating a pair of black crystal opal drop earrings.

400 Carat Opal

The final reveal — stunning opal earrings.
After four weeks of anticipation, the opals came back from the jeweler, transformed. Each earring was set in sterling silver, a 22.70-carat masterpiece with polished black crystal opals that matched beautifully. Ruth, our designer with two decades of experience, crafted the ideal setting to showcase each gem’s unique blend of potch and color. What started as a gamble paid off, resulting in a rare and captivating pair of earrings that show just how much a risky cut can be worth.

Whether it’s a single gem or a matching set, sometimes, taking a chance on rough opal leads to extraordinary rewards.