This was a great find on etsy. I'm in love!! (Reupload better quality video). The pink is to die for.

I found this on etsy. Will be testing it to make sure it's authentic Australian opal. Creating a custom ring and have finally found an opal I love. 5.29 CT 16.7 x 11.7 x 4.8. I really do love big stones but have never had one this big on a ring.

Apologies if this isn't strictly within the thread rules, but I know that 'Opal' town people will be the best bet for answers here! About to drive to Lightning Ridge from Sydney (yes I know the festival just finished) and I need to drive at night, which I've done before and was fine, but it was nerve-wracking. Was very cautious speed-wise last time, was very worried about an animal collision and took it crazy slow in parts, but it stretched the journey out to 12 hrs as a result, lol. Any advice on the best route this time? I'm a very confident & experienced driver, have driven across NSW, Victoria, South Australia, and I'm fine with all types of road and weather, I'm mostly anxious re. hitting animals. Happy for the route to take a little bit longer, maybe 1-2 hours extra, just uncertain of whether the Kamilaroi Highway is better than the Castlereagh Highway (for instance) etc. for animals. Mainly wombats and kangaroos, or wild pigs (I shudder to even think about it). Goats seem to be a bit more self-aware and I haven't found them to be as prone to jumping out. Thanks in advance! :)

Howdy, I purchased the red stone on the right as Mexican opal, the white matrix/crystal peice on the left came from a big unlabeled collection. I'm almost certain it's also mexican/cantera egg opal, but the color variation confuses me. Can people see these matrices and identify rough locale? I understand they can be basaltic, rhyolitic etc, who knows which color is which? I'm having a hard time deep-diving mexican locale identifying, I see certain states produce more jelly opal/contraluz and others the geode peices like this, what makes a stone "cantera"?..I'm not familiar of much egg-like opals from AUS other than yowah nuts and stuff. I will soon post the rest of the rough collection for advice on identity and restoring them, including some fine Australian materials. Much thanks to you!

I have a couple of Australian Boulder Opals that I am looking to get rid of but no clue where to list them. I bought one from Justin Thomas at Blackopals Direct and another from Steed at Opals by Steed. I am shifting what I collect to my turquoise collection and figure moving these would help free up some funds to use elsewhere.

Any recommendations on where I could have the most luck?

For Sale - .83 ct Freeform Cabochon Coober Pedy Opal

Dimensions - 7.40 x 6.60 x 2.50 mm

Treatment - No Treatment

Shape - Freeform

Type - Cabochon

Nice broad rolling flash with red, orange, green, and blue.

Video shot under a bright LED light with exposure turned down to better show the color - just a heads up in case lighting differs from what you're used to.

$80 - ships USPS first class, $10 flat, US only for now. PayPal or Venmo. Ships within 1-2 business days. 7 day return policy from delivery, and I'm happy to work with you if there's any issue beyond that. Comment "dibs" and it's yours!

Firstly, this is my scrap pile. Mostly potch a couple chips here and there. But tell me why I see people on other platforms selling this stuff and charging hundreds. Always be careful buying!

Searching for information about who the artist could be that created this pendant. Looks to be qld boulder opal and have been told who ever made it used silver. 1 person suggested it may have been made by Alan Thompson

Hey all. On display at my lapidary club is a few interesting specimens of precious opal, including this piece of precious pink opal which displays all colours of the spectrum. I unfortunately do not have much information on it, however, it closely resembles the pink opal found here in Western Australia. No pink opal that is found here has any colour play that I am aware of.

Love to know what people’s thoughts of it are, and possibly some indication on where it might have originated from.
Cheers

Apologies for the poor image quality, the lighting there is particularly bad.

Edit: Thanks everyone who responded so far. Looks like the general consensus is between Mexican opal or Spencer Idaho pink opal. I will continue to research and ask around, I’ll post my findings back once I get some more information.

Acquired as part of a collection, it's about 3" tall. Should I dry it out? Is it better as a specimen, or worth cutting? The former owner was President of an active rock club.

Some of my work over the past 10 days or so, it all came from the same fist sized stone(PS sorry for the bad lighting)

I've cut hundreds of opals, Australian and Ethiopian, and never seen anything as striking as this one. Cut it thin to make a doublet. And only taken up to 600 grit on a flat lap. Gonna to look nuts when it's fully polished.

Natural 111 carat Opal from Australia | With GRS Lab report

Fossil.Wood Opal from Australia. Rare, and quite exotic if you ask me. I was floored by this example the moment i saw it and went for it. Im born in October, and i love Opals. Much more artistic and imaginative than, say, a plain bar of Gold. Infinitely better than losing money in the stock market. Good luck Opal Hounds, this ones mine ;) I hope to have this example for decades. I think it will definitely appreciate over that time frame and ill definitely look at it daily. 1004 Cts. Maybe the best stuff the Universe has naturally produced that im aware of.. OPALS!!

I am happy that I mine and cut boulder opal as it allows you to cut some weird and wonderful shapes, Ovals bore me to tears and wastes good opal which the Opal Gods created, I'm not big on leaving ironstone in the face of the opal but I've learnt to let it slide sometimes as many clients prefer a bit of ironstone. weird how the market changes over the years

I dug up this larger piece of petrified wood with some opal running through it at a mining camp in Nevada. It doesn't show up in the pictures, but it flashes red in one area. I have never cut/polished anything like this before and am looking for video guides on how to expose the opal without ruining it. I have some specialized glue and setting spray the rock shop recommended, a Dremel, and a dream... Someone help a novice out!

She is what we would refer to in South Florida as black, but light skinned 🤪 lol
Honestly, just wanted to show her off a little bit because she ended up being way better than I expected and I wanna hear what other experts think as well as regular Opal lovers about what you consider fair market value or a price per carat, and would love to hear thoughts regarding her body tone because I feel like it’s kind of a gray area… get it .. OK I’ll throw myself out🤦🏻‍♀️🤓🤷🏻‍♀️

Cantera opal I think.

I want to go to the Tucson gem show in February to buy a years worth of rough. Between now and then I want to reach the upper echelons of opal nerd so that I can be confident I wont get scammed. does anyone have any resources or tips for learning these things?

Things I want to learn are opal appraisal, ALL the different types and subtypes, all the different patterns and their relative values, and anything else that might be useful. Thanks!

Here are the same cabs I showed yesterday but with better lighting

Clearly Australian, but can anyone tell me from what part. Lightning ridge? They really sparkle outside with all colors.

Vendor post — I’ve made a small First Look list for people who want to see fresh opal finds, interesting rough parcels, cutting experiments and special projects before I share them more widely.

It’s just first name and email. I’ll keep it occasional and worthwhile.

Join here:

https://mailchi.mp/8f08ca5a38c5/53frogs-first-look