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’m working with a rough piece of sandy seam opal from Lightning Ridge, full of sand and inclusions. It doesn’t look promising, but I’m determined to give it a go. The goal is to cut...
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...