Coober Pedy Opal

We have heard your cries of ‘when are we going to see a piece of Coober Pedy opal being cut?’ and… ‘Coober Pedy opal is awesome too you know!’.

So we’ve listened and decided to give the people what they want and take you on a cutting journey with the very special South Australian gem.

Opal Alchemy

Watch as we turn a White Opal into a Crystal Opal before your very eyes! This isn’t magic although, we do consider ourselves magicians in the world of opal… Alakazam! We start with a lovely piece of seam opal from Coober Pedy, which as it stands, is a White Opal. However, if we slice it up, my hope is that I can get them to a point where they are translucent enough to be Crystal Opals.

Facts about Coober Pedy

• Coober Pedy is known as the original opal capital of the world
• Famous for their underground lifestyle — shopping, churches, and houses are located underground
• Houses are built into the hills and were known as dugouts in the early days
• By building underground they protect the town folk from the scorching heat in summer and the freezing cold in winter

Bounty

After slicing the opal into pieces, they immediately became more translucent. It seems the smaller pieces the brighter they became. Drumroll please…. and the final count is not two, not three, not even four, but FIVE pieces of gem Crystal Opal!

We have asked our very own Ruth to cast her eye over the finished gems and give her expert opinion on what jewelry setting would work best.