I recently had a decision to make with a unique Coober Pedy shell opal fossil. This piece had incredible potential — beautiful play-of-color with vibrant hues — but the question was whether to pres...
This piece of rough opal has been sitting on my bench for a year, and I’ve finally decided to take a chance on it. On the outside, it looks like a simple gray opal, but inside it might just turn bl...
In this video, I take on a 74-carat piece of opal that’s full of potential, but with no guarantee of how it will cut. I was sure it weighed about 40 carats, but it’s much heavier, which means there...
In this week’s opal-cutting challenge, I take on a piece of seam opal from an unknown field. Without any clues about how it will cut, I’m flying blind. The risk of buying opal from a mystery field ...
In this video, I embark on the quest to uncover a hidden Black Opal Treasure within what appears to be an ordinary 50-carat uncut gem. I had a hunch it could be worth thousands. As any experienced ...
Let’s rewind a bit from the part where I see red opal. My son, Saxon, came to me with some rough nobby opals and asked if he could cut them. I gave him the green light, thinking they were good prac...
There isn’t a week that goes by without a memorable cutting session, but this one was particularly special as it’s a father-son opal cutting session. Working with my dad, we took on the challenge o...
When my two opal miner friends said they had “the best nobby opal we have ever mined,” my curiosity was immediately piqued. They were unsure how to cut it to get the most out of the gem, so I was h...
I have been putting off cutting this piece of 166ct rough opal. The approach to a piece this large takes a little more patience and brainpower, especially when it has a myriad of problems to naviga...