Cutting opal is always a journey of discovery, and today’s 38-carat Coober Pedy Opal rough did not disappoint. At first glance, this gem looked like a simple white piece with a smoky haze. However,...
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 ...
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...
In a recent instalment of Black Opal Direct, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jenni Brammall, one of the driving forces behind the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge. As AOC Founders, Ru...