Opal-An Australian Adventure

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Opal

An Australian Adventure

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Opal An Australian Adventure

How to discover it in plain language

Update of

The Ordinary Bloke’s Guide to

Opal ‘Coz not everyone knows what an ‘ordinary bloke’ is

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Peter J Brusaschi

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Opal – An Australian Adventure

(click above to take a look at the Australian Outback)

© 2012 by Peter J Brusaschi

The official statement here is that you are not allowed to copy this

information without my permission. But I’m not that sort of person.

Knowledge is for sharing. Particularly for parents with kids who need

to get back to basics of life on earth rather than to disappear into

some cyber world. If you want to copy something or send something

to someone else, feel free to do so but it would be nice if you could

let me know and it really helps to cover expenses if you could

recommend www.opalmine.com to your friends so that we can keep

making a living. Email [email protected]. Best wishes from

Peter. I hope you enjoy the book.

Opalmine Productions

P.O. Box 512. Coolangatta

Queensland 4225, Australia

[email protected]

www.opalmine.com

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DEDICATION

To All those folks who like going ‘bush’ as we say in Australia.

Going places perhaps thousands of miles away from civilization,

where you’ve never been before. Bringing home interesting

rocks, in this case opal. Creating and fashioning gemstones

from the ground. Producing “talking point” jewelry and adding

“one of a kind” specimens to collections.

Learning the art of the lapidary (Gemstone cutting)

Producing jewelry gifts for family and friends that not only

bring a lot of satisfaction but can lead to a new source of

income.

Adding Opal to the displays of mineral Collectors whether Rock

Hound amateurs or professional dealers.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction Page 6

Chapter 1 The Rainbow Stone with a Personality Page 15

Chapter 2 Defining Terms related to opal Page 18

Chapter 3 Fossilized Opal Page 31

Chapter 4 Where Opal is found in Australia Page 45

Chapter 5 Opal Mining & Fossicking Page 57

Chapter 6 Opal Cutting Machinery Page 63

Chapter 7 Opal Cutting & Processing Page 72

Chapter 8 Making Doublets and Triplets Page 89

Chapter 9 Setting your Stones Page 95

Chapter 10 Valuing your Stones Page 110

Chapter 11 Selling your Stones Page 118

Conclusion ‘Gallery of Picture Stones' Page 131

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INTRODUCTION

There’s something really special about a name. Although we might

not admit it, when we see our names in print, a warm glow comes

over us, even if we share that name with probably millions of others

as I do. (Peter)

Just imagine though, grinding away at some rough opal, in your

lapidary workshop, working on a piece of rock that has been lying

deep in the ground for thousands of years, and exposing something

that looks like the first letter in your name. There is your initial

glaring at you, highlighted in precious opal. Now THAT would be

special I think you’d agree.

Then you are doing the same thing with another piece of rock and

you find the initial of your wife or husband or girlfriend, or boyfriend

also highlighted in opal colors? Now, that would be REALLY special.

Hard to believe? A freak of nature? Well, admittedly you have to use

your imagination a little, but here is the evidence:

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Click HERE to see our opal picture-stone gallery

These unique opal picture stone pieces were found in the Koroit field near

the town of Cunnamulla in Western Queensland, Australia.

But enough of myself and my wife. That’s not why you bought this

book. It’s about getting to know the stone itself. Opal. At the outset I

must say that the introduction is a bit long but I wanted to make sure

you got enough background about the stone in case at some time in

the future you want to really get serious about processing and maybe

even attempting to find it. But if you think it’s a bit drawn out, you

can always skip it and get to the meat of the matter.

Although I’ve include some definitions, this book is not written

primarily as a technical guide. A lot of detailed information has

already been written by people more qualified than myself in the arts

of chemistry and geology. My goal here is to give you a hands-on look

at the subject by someone like myself who has ‘been there and done

that’ over a period of around 40 years.

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The book is written with the ordinary or average person in mind.

Maybe it’s because that just about summarizes me. No real

education apart from personal experience, and I do find that there

are too many books written to show off the vocabulary of the author

rather than cater to the learning needs of the reader.

For this reason, whenever terms come up that may not be familiar to

the reader (even some words that we THINK we know), I have

offered basic definitions, whenever I feel that a finer understanding

would assist in getting to know the subject. This saves you having to

check the dictionary all the time.

I have tried to develop the subject logically, starting with terms

associated with the stone. Sometimes you read a book on a subject,

and by the time you get to the middle, you suddenly realize you just

don’t get what it’s talking about. The descriptions are not there just

to prove you know something about the subject. They are there to

take you somewhere. The understanding of terms associated with

opal takes you on a journey of opal discovery.

Hence our definitions are focused not just on the stone itself, but on

words and subjects that relate to the stone, so that you can see

clearly what is meant when we say (for example) “This machine

operates on the periphery, not on a flat surface” What is a

periphery? I didn’t know until I looked it up.

You will get to know where it is mined. The lapidary (opal cutting)

machinery you will need to work with it. How to set it, value it, and

sell it.

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The book also tackles the challenge of how to turn your hobby into a

business, for, after all, there’s no point having a lot of stones

decorating your workshop while the bills pile up.

Working from home is the dream of many a hobbyist and with

today’s revolutionary communication systems, there’s no reason why

your hard work and fun in the garage cannot be turned into cash.

Cash that can not only pay bills but also buy more sophisticated

equipment to make your hobby even more interesting.

Gone are the days when you had to put an advert in the local

classifieds to try to sell something. There’s a world out there on the

internet waiting to buy things. You just have to have a few clues

about how to take advantage of it whether it be through eBay, free

advertising sites, or building your own blog or website. (Incidentally,

the word ‘blog’ comes from ‘weblog’ and is really just another

website, but focusing more on an exchange of conversation)

And of course, even if you use your creations as gifts, it saves on

buying gifts from shops, and that in itself means money.

After all, that’s just what happened to most opal cutters and dealers

like myself, and if I can do it, nearly anyone can. Have fun…..And keep

in touch with us through www.opalmine.com where you can join to

receive our newsletter.

So you are an ordinary “bloke” or “guy” or “gal” as the Americans

would put it!! Maybe you’re not so ordinary. Maybe you know a lot

more about the gem industry than I do. Maybe you are an

experienced lapidarist (rock cutter). Whoever or whatever you

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are, it doesn’t really matter, the learning process never ends if

you are open minded enough to recognize that fact.

After cutting opal for about 30 years, one day an old bloke walked

into the Opal Miner’s Hut and said: “How do you “dop” an opal?”

After a lengthy description of the traditional heated sealing wax

method, he said, “That’s a bit of a long drawn out way of doing it!”

I swallowed my pride and listened to his simple suggestion. His idea

revolutionized my thinking of this procedure and started my use

of timber glues for dopping instead of epoxy. This in turn got me

thinking about a more effective way of using water on wet and dry

sandpaper for sanding. (More about that later)

What is learned from an experience like that is that we don’t stop

learning no matter how much we think we know about a subject.

From my experience in life, the danger in being an “expert” is that

you can become tunnel-visioned in your approach to things.

Click HERE for some pics of the Opal fields

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Rock Hounds (lapidary people), have a name for being helpful. No

Matter how much experience you’ve had, there will always be

someone who will disagree with your methods and come up with

another idea. If you have a better ideas please talk about it at this

blog: http://opalmine.com/services/opal-cutting-and-polishing/.

Having said that, I believe that what is needed to work the stone, and

gain tremendous satisfaction out of producing a gem, is a little

common sense and ability to work with your hands.

Most of us started off without the valuable experience recorded in

this book, so if you read it carefully, in just a short time, you should

accomplish what it took me ten years and thousands of dollars worth

of mistakes to find out.

I must also state that I have more than one reason for writing this

book. Not just to teach you about opal but to hopefully make more

people aware of this magnificent stone, and get much pleasure out of

either cutting it, dealing in it, or both.

Secondly it may encourage more people to buy it and help all the

people including myself and the rest of the battling opal miners in

Lightning Ridge and other fields to sell more opal.

The more people know about opal, the more opal will be bought and

sold. Then everyone will be making a better living. That is why the

book does not just tell you about opal itself, but later lets you know

how you can do to turn your hobby into a business. With modern

communication and freight systems, it doesn’t matter where you are

on the planet. You can inspect parcels of rough opals by email and

source rough opal supplies and the equipment it takes to process it.

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Of course, you can only get a certain amount of help out of books.

The rest is left up to practice. You have to experience the feeling of

stones popping off “dop sticks” to learn how to avoid it.

If you want to give yourself a kick-start, why not join a lapidary club

for a while? There’s probably one not far from you. The name

should appear in your telephone directory under “Lapidary Clubs”. Or

you can just type ‘lapidary clubs’ along with your location into your

internet browser. You might find out there’s one just around the

corner from you.

As mentioned before, “Rockhounds” as they are called, are

usually an obliging bunch, particularly if you have a nice opal

specimen that you could part with or swap for something else as a

little payment. If you do this however, take this tip from a person

who has had a lot to do with all sorts of gemstones apart from opal

over the past thirty years.

If you want to become an opal expert, don’t get sidetracked into

learning other lapidary arts such as faceting (Stones cut with multi-

angled tables or facets like diamonds), at least until you master cab

cutting. Faceting takes a lot more expensive equipment, is more

difficult to learn, takes a lot of time (one stone could take a day to

cut), and in most cases the efforts are not rewarded because the job

is already being done very cheaply by large well organized companies

using cheap labor.

You could spend days perfecting a sapphire facet, only to find that

you could buy the whole stone for a few dollars from someone

importing from Thailand. To a degree, the same thing applies to

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cabochons, (dome topped stones) but the difference with opal is that

much of the better quality rough from Lightning Ridge is offered on

an individual basis to whoever has the money at the time the Miner

Finds it, and whoever is willing to offer the best price.

Opal is a different scene altogether. Apart from some of the lower

grades of stones, opal mining is still very much a family business.

Particularly the black opal in Lightning Ridge and the Queensland

Boulder opal mines. Opal is so difficult to find that it’s really not cost

effective for big companies to get involved. So there is still a chance

for the little dealer and the collector/hobbyist to get some of the act.

Particularly in the area of processing the stone from its raw state to

something that can be worn as jewelry or put in a showcase.

Some of the larger buyers, who can afford to just sit and wait for the

miners, offer such low prices that Miners hesitate to sell it to

them. Hence, the one who gets the rough is usually the luck of the

draw making it a more even playing field.

Opal is still very much a family orientated industry and the average

person like you or I can still find a little niche in the industry and

without too much effort, produce some very good quality gems

either for personal apparel, as gifts, or for resale.

Another thing about cutting a cabochon (round topped) is that it is a

process that really just enhances the natural colors in a stone.

Particularly in the case of opal, the play of color has already been

completed by nature.

In the case of a white diamond, white sapphire, white topaz or crystal

quartz for example, the play of color is developed by the application

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of facets. If it were not for interference by man, they would resemble

common glass. It’s true that colored stones such as rubies and

blue sapphires have bright colors but, unless they are party colored

stones (such as some sapphires with yellow, blue, and green

features) are just single colors. Cabochon cut opal is different. The

color is already there. The cutter just shapes and polishes it.

In 1977 an old shop was turned into The Opal Miner’s Hut and

for nearly 30 years thousands of people from all over the world have

visited, along with hundreds of opal miners and dealers on their way

to and from the outback opal mines. Unfortunately the old shop was

demolished to make way for modernity but the memories remain

and the knowledge gained can be shared.

Maybe this book will affect the way you view life and give you an

extra interest that will be satisfying, rewarding, and, hopefully, not

too frustrating. Be patient as you experiment with the methods I

have described. It takes time to learn, so be sure to have fun while

you’re learning. Hope you enjoy the presentation as you embark on a

journey of opal discovery. Meet some Opal Miners (below)

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The Author and Jim Haywood at Lightning Ridge

Click HERE to see pictures of animals in the outback opal fields

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Ralf Liebig topping up the old 4wd (note the bottle)

CHAPTER 1

The Rainbow Stone with a Personality

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Most people do not realize it but precious opal is comparable in price

and is often more valuable than diamonds. And when you think of it,

to the average person, if you’ve seen one diamond, you’ve seen the

lot. To most of us they all look basically the same, unless you have

technical knowledge. Most gemstones only come alive after they

have been tampered with by men.

Yet the opal will dazzle you in its natural state as it comes out of the

ground. Some stones are left just as they are and set into jewellery.

Others are shaped and polished to suit the taste of the owner, or the

imagination of the cutter.

Boulder opal set in rough state Crystal Opal finished off

Opal has been called the ‘Personality Stone’. Just like people who are

individually unique. There are stones which feature Red, Green,

Yellow, Blue, Pink, Orange, and all the colors of the rainbow. Yet in

each of these featured colors, you will find subtle and sometimes

very strong hints of other colors to complement them. In fact at

times it’s difficult for your eyes to determine what the ‘theme’ color

is because other colors keep flooding in.

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The uniqueness of natural opal is that it is not just a rich man’s stone.

While it is true that it may cost $30,000 or more to own one of the

rarer stones such as the ‘Red Robin’ or the “Butterfly’, still the

average person can share a small reflection of this glory for just a few

dollars, and when the wearer is asked by a friend, “Is that a REAL

OPAL?”, whether it cost $50 or $50,000, one can truthfully say, YES.

Not so with diamonds or sapphires, or any other gemstone. If you

want a big diamond for example, and you can’t afford $20,000 or so,

you have to opt for a Cubic Zirconia or one of the other synthetic

stones which while admittedly gorgeous, are not natural gems.

Not only do opals have a personality of their own but you can select

the stone which you feel personally suits you. Your complexion. The

type and color of clothing you prefer. Remember than even though

the stone you buy may be one of the lesser expensive ones, there is

no other stone in the world exactly the same as it. Oh yes, there

may be some similar but if you look at it carefully (without the aid of

an eyepiece) you will be able to recognize it among others.

And if you want to be really adventurous you can go for boulder opal

fun stones. These magnificent gems are often quite cheap. Ranging in

price from around $20, to whatever you want to pay. They often

have ironstone inclusions in their face, and all sorts of interesting,

pictures and patterns are observed that make them even more

unique than the average opal. These stones stimulate the artistic

imagination of designers because they are usually not cut into

traditional oval shapes but can come in any shape that is decided

upon by the cutter.

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Boulder opal with ironstone inclusions showing unique patterns

So...when deciding on YOUR opal, think about your own personality,

and how you would like to express it in your jewelry. There is an

opal with its own personality, waiting to be worn or designed by

someone who will match it with theirs.

Chapter 2 Defining Terms Related to Opal

(Click here for additional online comments)

Please note that there are quite a lot of differences between The

American and the British way of spelling English. For example, the

mother language uses ‘jewellery’ whereas in American English its

‘jewelry’ so please excuse us if there are some mistakes according to

your particular system. My word processer currently speaks

American so we will stay with that for the time being.

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As I indicated before, for every suggestion made about the gem

cutting procedure, there will be someone who disagrees with it. If

you think you've got a better suggestion, or would like to put your

point of view, please take advantage of the chat program on the

www.opalmine.com blog, or just send an e-mail to me (Peter):

[email protected] I’m always open for new ideas or suggestions

to pass on to the ever- increasing family of Gem Cutters, the world

over.

To understand how the change of color phenomena happens in opal

you need to know the various terms associated with the movement

of light so in this section we will address those details. Other

definitions will help you understand how various opals are identified

and put into different categories or groups. So we will make sure

that these words are explained simply. Let’s start off with the most

important word itself. ‘OPAL’

One definition is: Opal Latin: ‘opalus’ to see a change in color.

1590s, from Fr. opalle, from L. opalus (Pliny), supposedly from Gk.

opallios, possibly ultimately from Skt. upala-s "gem, precious stone."

A translucent mineral of hydrated silica, often used as a gem.

(Translucence as it is applied to opal means that you can quite often,

but not always, see right into it) in the case of jelly opal, it almost

becomes transparent.

Words and meanings associated with opal

a) Opalescence: Having a play or “show” of colors similar to an opal.

b) Opaque: Not letting light through. Not transparent. Dense.

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c) Amorphous: Shapeless. Not consisting of crystals. Non crystalline.

(Glass is amorphous. Sugar is crystalline.)

d) Silica: Silicon Dioxide a hard, white or colorless substance that in

the form of quartz, enters in to the composition of many rocks, and is

contained in sponges and certain plants. I’ve heard it said (but I

haven’t checked), that the needle in the mouth of a female

mosquito is made of silica. Flint, sand, chalcedony, and opal are

examples of silica in different forms.

e) Hydrate: A compound produced when certain substances

chemically combine with water.

f) Translucent: Letting light through without being transparent.

g) Transparent: Easily seen through. Like glass.

h) Incandescent: Glowing with heat (red or white hot) as in a light

bulb which glows white hot, but produces a light that has yellow

overtones that more closely resembles natural sunlight.

i) Fluorescent: A light produced by the electrical stimulation of a

gas or vapor. (i.e. fluorescent lights which have a similar effect on

opal as a bright cloudy day. Not so conducive to showing the colors in

opal).

j) Deflection: From ‘deflect’. (To turn aside, to bend) The bending

of rays of light from a straight line.

k) Diffraction: From ‘diffract’. (To break in pieces) A breaking up of a

ray of light into either a series of light and dark bands, or into color

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l) Diffuse: To spread out so as to cover a larger space or surface. To

scatter.

m) Spectrum: (from ‘specere’ “to look at”. . . hence “spectacles” or

“inspect” The band of colors formed when a beam of white light

passes through a prism, or by some other means. (e.g.. mist or spray,

in the case of a rainbow.) The full range of spectrum colors are red,

orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

n) Sphere: A round geometrical body whose surface is equally

distant at all points from the centre

Lighting & Color

As an opal dealer, you will want to flatter your stones and present

them in their best dress so as to speak. Use either ordinary

incandescent lights, (such as a bed lamp or office lamp), floodlights,

or if you want to keep the heat down, a 12v lighting system. Not

fluorescent lights. (There are some exceptions to this rule. Some

feel that some opals show up better in half-light or in fluorescent

lights. This of course is a matter of opinion, but as a general rule,

incandescent lights are recommended, unless you are photographing

opal, in which case the rules are completely changed)

Explaining the Color in Opal

In the past, there have been lots of theories about how this happens.

Since the development of the electron microscope this suggestion

has been made:

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Random spheres Diffraction and deflection Uniform spheres

Precious opal is made up of microscopic uniform spheres of

transparent hard silica, which fit together in an orderly three-

dimensional frame, sitting in a ‘bath’ of silica solution. It is the

orderliness of the spheres (extreme right above) that separates

precious opal from random structured common opal (See deflection

and diffraction above)

Light passes through the transparent spheres in a direct line, but

when it hits the ‘bath’ of silica, it is bent and deflected at different

angles, thus producing a rainbow and change of color effect.

Depending on the size of the spheres, varying colors of the spectrum

will be diffracted.(see definition below) So it is a combination of

deflection (bending) and diffraction (breaking up) of light rays that

creates the color in opal. If you move the stone, the light will hit the

spheres from different angles and bring about a change in color.

(Which apparently is what the name opal actually means?)

Types of Opals

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White Opal: (above)Pale opal that is white-ish in color, which is opaque (not

translucent or See-through-surface color) Sometimes called “milk” opal.

Crystal Opal: (above) Pale opal with brighter stronger colors that are semi

translucent. (i.e., you can see into the stone.)

However crystal opal is often quite opaque as well even though you

can look into the stone as the name implies. The color is stronger and

denser than jelly opal, and hence the eye is constrained from looking

deep into the stone.

Keep in mind that the term ‘crystal’ was used by the old miners who

really didn’t have any other way of describing it. They chose this term

because of its crystal like qualities but in no way is the word

connected to the technical meaning of crystal which applies to stones

with a crystalline structure. This is another subject altogether.

Jelly Opal: (above left) Pale or dark opal that is like jelly. It often has a little

color but can be seen right through

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Jelly Crystal: (above right) A cross between Jelly and crystal. Stone at top

right has more dense color and leans toward crystal

Black Opal: Opal with a pitch-black background, thus causing the

foreground of the stone to have a darker and brighter appearance.

Opals that are different shades of grey in the background were called

‘Semi black’ opals in the past but the new opal nomenclature

(naming system) classifies them as ‘dark opals’ All Black and grey

opals are dark opals but not all dark opals are black opals. Only those

with very dark grey to black backgrounds. Dark opals without much

color are sometimes called “muggies” but this is an unofficial nick

name. For the sake of understanding common terms used in general

conversation about opal we will include the following term in the

definition.

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A rare parcel of calibrated black opals from Lightning Ridge

Semi Black Opal: - Same family as black opal but with a grayer

background. This can range from light Grey, to quite dark grey,

coming into black. The darker the background directly beneath the

color, the brighter and more defined is the foreground. Sometimes

the back of a stone will look really black but if there is a lighter color

bar in between the color face, and the black back, it can turn a black

opal into a semi black.

Sunflash: Black opal that is very dark with just a hint of color coming

through as the stone is tilted back and forth. (below right)

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Dark Opal Purple Jelly Dark Crystal

Dark Crystal: (above right) Dark or Black opal, usually without a black

back, that is slightly translucent like crystal opal. The dark, smoky

background is right through the stone instead of just in the

background like black opal. This particular specimen is not so dark

and not a good example but it illustrates the point.

Rough Black Opal rubs: (above) Black that has been cut out of the mother

rock but left in an unprocessed state. Usually called ‘rubs’

Coober Pedy Crystal Rough (above) mine run. That is unprocessed from the

mine (left) Rubbed (middle) unprocessed (right)

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Rough Boulder Opal from the Quilpie fields. Stone (left above) has been split

out of large boulders and has a natural polished face. Middle and right are

boulder opal rubs, cleaned up ready to complete.

Seam Opal (above) from Mulga rush and the Sheepyards field near Lightning

Ridge, which has been rubbed so as to expose the color. This opal often has

a ‘flat-ish’ appearance in the rough usually found in horizontal

‘seams’ or lines in the opal dirt. It is not always flat. It often comes in

lumps like ‘nobby’ opal. Coober Pedy opal is also seam opal. The centre

stone above has some black potch in the surface giving a good example of

how the potch often comes with the color. This could have been cut out but

has been left as an excellent specimen.

When buying rough opal from dealers, you can ask for rubs in

preference to just rough. This is a much better proposition than

buying mine run because there is little risk since you can what you

are getting and you save money on freight costs by eliminating

waste. If you ask nicely, sometimes the dealer will throw in some

extra ‘potch and color’ to practice on and you will often be surprised

what you find in this free material. Sometimes it pays for half the

parcel.

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Color Bar: A line or bar of color going through the stone with potch on either

side. This can be straight or bent, horizontal or vertical. (Term often used in

connection with South Australian ‘Seam’ opal.)

Large specimen showing color bar-Coober Pedy or Lambina

Black, Grey, and Magpie Potch. From the Sheepyards, Grawin, Glengarry

opal fields near Lightning Ridge field. Some good stones can be found

hidden in this potch at times and if not it provides excellent backing for

doublets and triplets (explained later) If you look closely at the picture on

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the right you will see a tiny sparkle of color indicating that there could be

more color inside.

Click any of the above pictures to see boulder opal set in rings

Boulder Opal: As the name suggests, this opal comes in fine

seams or veins embedded in the boulders which are called

(probably incorrectly) ironstone. (More likely hardened desert

sandstone.) These boulders can be as small as a pebble or up to a

meter thick and are usually smashed into subjection with

sledgehammers. A lot of opal is often destroyed in this process. Very

large diamond saws are sometimes used if the color is obvious. But

usually at least some hammering takes place to identify whether or

not some color exists in the rock. Cutting boulder opal is a very

muddy experience.

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Boulder Opal Split faces: 5 classic split faces that were cleaved from the

veins of a large chunk of boulder opal. Stones like this are usually set ‘as is’.

That is, they have a natural polish that does not require further work. The

shapes are just cleaned. The edges smoothed to take metal claws and set as

pendants and rings that produce stunning designs.

Boulder opal Matrix. The term ‘matrix’ is associated with maternal or

‘mother’ In this case, the brown ironstone is ‘mother’ to the veins of

brilliant opal color which is the ‘baby’

Natural Boulder Matrix from the Winton area.

Carvings (below)

Boulder opal Boulder Matrix Boulder Opal

Nobby Opal: Similar to ‘Seam’ opal only that the stone is lumpier in

shape and more randomly found in the opal dirt. It often comes in

fossil crustaceans, called ‘Chinaman’s Hats’ (because of their shape).

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Although most contain just black potch, they are highly sought after

by the prospector because they are the miner’s best indication of

finding precious opal.

When nobbies are sliced in two, there is no telling what will be

found inside. Some of the amazing shapes and patterns in

themselves curiosities, worth collecting, so look out for them,

when slicing the colorless potch. You will find some

interesting surprises. I just call this one, “The Well” (bottom

left)

‘The Well’ Ridge ‘Nobby’ nobbies and seam

Chapter 3. Fossilized Opal

“Eric” the pliosaur (an extinct marine reptile) with a large head,

shorter neck and strong jaws and teeth. Australia is the only country

where these skeletons have been found Opalized.

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Extreme left and right (above) are simulations of ‘Eric’

Actual Opalized disc of ancient Pliosaur without color-White Cliffs

Belemnites: Cuttlefish fossils. These are mostly found in Coober Pedy

but can also be discovered at Lightning Ridge and other fields. They

are just one of the many interesting Opalized fossils that we will

discuss

Polished Belemnites showing full opal color

Opalized Shells: Found mostly in Coober Pedy, but can be found in

Lightning Ridge and other fields. Some of these shells can cost many

thousands of dollars. Coober Pedy is famous for its white opal and

crystal opal shells. They are well sought after by collectors and the

off-cuts make very bright solid opals and doublets. Sometimes they

35

are backed with boulder opal ironstone and look for the world like

solid boulder opals, unless you know what to look for. Always be

careful when buying a boulder opal to make sure that it is not really a

Coober Pedy shell with a boulder back. A slight prick with a sharp

needle on the side of the stone where the ironstone meets the opal

will indicate whether or not the back has been cemented on.

Opalized shells from Coober Pedy in South Australia

Opalized shell that as a ring, surrounded by diamonds and rubies.

Opalized Snails: Also common mainly to Coober Pedy, they are not

as plentiful as the shells.

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Opal Snails (above) with near full color

Other Fossils (unknown origin)

Unknown snakeskin-like markings in boulder opal.

Claw Starfish? Fossil bone

Andamooka Matrix (treated): A natural -porous limestone containing

mostly opal. A process of boiling it in sugar or glucose and sulfuric

acid accentuates the color. The sugar soaks in to the porous rock and

the acid turns the sugar into carbon, which of course turns the stone

black, thus giving it a black opal appearance. Less invasive methods

37

are used today by similar soakings in caramel sugars. Best to join the

forums at www.opalmine.com to discuss more modern methods.

A large specimen of Andamooka Matrix featuring a strip of orange-red

standing out against the green.

Painted Lady: A thin white- ish or crystal layer of opal color attached

to a white or creamy colored rock found in Andomooka. It is possible

to cut stones from it in a similar fashion to Queensland boulder opal

but it is usually left as a specimen. In fact with a little imagination

one could call it South Australia’s boulder opal without the stark

colors familiar to the Queensland stone which stand out against a

background of brown ironstone rather than pale hardened

sandstone.

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Andamooka Painted Lady White Cliffs ‘pineapple’

Winton Pancakes: (below) The name again is very descriptive. They

are boulder opals, very flat-ish, often with very pretty bands of

ironstone, and can achieve an excellent polish, similar to some

Yowah nuts. Opal found in this type of stone is often very valuable

with a nice cleanly polished back.

This chunk was cut from a Winton ‘Pancake’

Yowah Nuts: As the name implies, these are found in ‘nutlike’

formations, as small as a pea to approximately fist size. They are

really miniature boulder opals but are famous for their fascinating

bands of ironstone with associated natural matrix opal. The most

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sought after these has a kernel of pure opal, but also in big demand

by collectors are the unusual patterns and pictures caused by the

veins of opal in the ironstone.

Rough Yowah Nuts Yowah Matrix Empty Nut Kernel

‘Cartwheel’s’ Picture Stone Gem filled Kernel

Yowah conglomerate Black Gate matrix-Yowah region

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Koroit Opal Koroit (which is a lesser known field not far from Yowah)

produces nuts similar to Yowah although generally they are larger and often

have different unique shapes that often resemble trees, grass, sky scenes

and all sorts of weird looking circular and worm like features. The amazing

varieties of these remarkable stones often resemble something we know of

in nature but also are like original abstract works of art. Hence (for the sake

of a better description) in this book we have applied the phrase ‘abstract

opal’ in an attempt to capture the ambiance or character of this remarkable

natural phenomenon. Koroit ironstone is often extremely hard and polishes

like a mirror. This field also produces boulder opal similar to what is found

further north in Quilpie and Winton.

Koroit boulder opal Koroit ‘mushroom’

Opal Carvings Accomplished using either a dremmel or a

flexishaft dental drill. Method explained later.

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Abstract carving boulder opal leaf boulder crocodile

Copi is a White-ish impurity in opal from the Lightning Ridge area. I

have not seen it happen myself but I believe that it can grow inside

the stone and destroy the color.

Cobweb. Stringy cobweb like inclusions that take away from the

quality of the stone

Cobwebs inside a dark opal from Lightning Ridge

Fire Opal. I’ve heard different definitions for this term. Some say that

it must be red and fire-like, but depending on where you come from,

the term is often applied to just any brilliant opal with a fiery look to

it, whether it’s red, blue, yellow, orange or green. I suppose, when

you look at real fire, you often see all those colors in it.

Brilliant red fire opals from the Winton fields

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Concrete. Porous limestone matrix from Andomooka. Typically

Pinfire in pattern. Often difficult to polish. Usually needs to be

varnished. Similar more porous material called ‘Fairy stone’ is found

in the Queensland fields but is more likely Sandstone.

Untreated Fairy Stone from Queensland

Ginger Whisker: Rusty marks in the opal, often along crack lines.

Gypsum: An impurity in the opal like a needle. Sometimes travels

right through the stone.

Opalized wood: Old sticks, tree trunks, palm fonts, replaced by opal.

The original shape is encased in clay, rots away, and the cavity is

replaced by opal, either precious or potch. (The same thing happens

with all sorts of other fossils.)

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Cut and polished Opalized wood from Qld

Opal Patterns

Here are just a few examples of patterns that have been identified,

but it is only a small glimpse of the variations that could exist. There

are an endless variety of patterns probably not even identified yet.

Amazing stones that lie in some opal miner’s biscuit tin, which have

never been seen by the public. I personally have had many of these

stones put aside over a 20-year period and many are being shown for

the first time in this book.

Pinfire: The color can be very bright but not as showy as

other patterns. It resembles tiny pinpricks across the face of the

stone.

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Pinfire pattern Andamooka matrix Pine fire black Opal

Broad flash: (Also rolling flash) the color bounces back and forth in a

wide angle across the stone. Whole sections of color appear and

disappear.

Broad flash opal from Lightning Ridge

Harlequin: this is the most valuable and rarest opal pattern. The

name came from the spangles of a Clown’s outfit. Well-defined

separations show between the colors in square-ish patterns. The

more perfect the distinctions of these squares and contrasts, the

more valuable the harlequin. There are many variations to this

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pattern and a lot of unique descriptions have been offered. (Fish

scale, Fan, Cartwheel, Flagstone)

These examples are not true harlequin but serve to illustrate some of the

very defined slab-like patterns that are a feature of this opal.

Floral Pattern Opal that resembles the shapes of flowers and leaves

as shown in this large Lightning Ridge Specimen below.

Floral Pattern Dark Opal

Rainbow Opal. (Our terminology) As the name suggests, the color is

arranged in the fashion of a rainbow. The drop shaped piece below is

from Lightning Ridge

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Rainbow Opal

Straw Pattern: Spindles of color criss-crossing just like grass or straw.

A thinner version of this is often called “Grass Pattern”. (example

below). The example below is not a good one but it illustrates the

point.

Straw Pattern

Chinese Writing: Looks vaguely like Chinese characters if you stretch

your imagination. The piece (below centre) is an example but the

piece on the right is actually a boulder opal picture stone, not

47

classified as Chinese writing but we have included it as an example of

some of the amazing things you see in this type of opal.

Chinese ‘Da’ (tall) Writing Picture Stone

Ribbon: Pattern is like ribbons or strips of color flashing across

the face of the stone.

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Cartwheel Ribbon pattern (our terminology)

Chapter 4. WHERE OPAL IS FOUND IN AUSTRALIA

Opal Fields

Checking the map above, there are three major opal-producing

areas in Australia. They are located in South Australia (SA), New

South Wales (NSW), and Queensland (Qld) Opal has also been

found in small quantities in Western Australia (WA) in the

Coolgardie region, and Tintenbar, on the North Coast of NSW

has a small quantity of jelly –crystal and black opal found in top

soils of farming areas.

49

Opal in a crystallized form, in the middle of thunder eggs has

been found in the hills of Mullumbimby, also on the NSW north

coast.

Coober Pedy S.A. (and associated fields nearby) Andamooka,

Mintabie and Lambina

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Aerial view of Coober Pedy underground

Town of Coober Pedy

The Author with some friends at Coober

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Original example of mining operation Local aboriginal folks

Lightning Ridge (and Associated fields nearby), plus larger fields away

from the town - Coocoran, Sheepyards, Glengarry, Grawin, Mulga

Rush Carters Rush and Mehi. (From “Opals in NSW – Dept of Mineral

Resources) I n r e c e n t y e a r s , since the discovery of the

Coocoran fields, Lightning Ridge has expanded to such an extent, so

as to rival the size of the Coober Pedy field and it always happens

when a major ‘strike’ is found, there is an immigration of miners and

dealers between the fields.

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Let’s Go!

Travel to Lightning Ridge from Brisbane and the Gold Coast (red dots)

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Nobody knows how many live at Lightning Ridge

Coopers Cottage Syd and Georges cottage

The “Bore baths” (below right) at Lightning Ridge. Piping hot water

pours out from the underground artesian basin. People from all over

the world; come to this little spot for relief from Arthritic pain.

The Author –Coopers Cottage Hot Bore Baths at Lightning Ridge

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Main Street of Lightning Ridge Example of LR sense of humor

Old houses in Lightning Ridge Township

Aboriginal Artworks-main street Lightning Ridge

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Herman (the German) and Sandy Kreller (left) Zeriff

Can house Lightning Ridge

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White Cliffs (NSW), not far from the SA border, near Broken Hill, was

the largest opal producing field in the world until the opal was pretty

well mined out and found again in Andamooka and Coober Pedy to

the north west of S.A. White Cliffs now boasts an excellent

underground motel and some of the underground houses are

luxurious. The temperature is mild and constant. (Approx 23%

Celsius), a lot cooler…than……living above. (40degrees)

Living underground at White Cliffs

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Today, White cliffs is a small mining community that, from time to

time, still produces excellent parcels of crystal. Many folks have

given up city life to live in this outback community where, in recent

years the government has done a lot of experimenting on the use of

solar power in this town.

Like Yowah, in Queensland, many retired folks either live there or at

least spend time there each year. Some have built luxurious

homes in old dugouts. They like the community atmosphere far away

from the rush of the city… and there is always the chance that they

will find opal.

Quilpie, and associated fields - Eromanga and Bull Creek, Duck Creek,

Coperella. Winton, and associated fields Kynoona, Opalton, Jundah,

Koroit, Yowah, and associated field - Black Gate. There are other

smaller fields in these areas. Approximately 17 in all including the

major areas.

Quilpie town back in the 20’s

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Boulder Opal Stones from the Quilpie

Some boulder opals are very large and have to be attacked with a

Sledgehammer before finishing the job with large diamond saws Of

course many precious opal bearing boulders have been destroyed

using this method but there seems to be no practical alternative

other than to use very large diamond blades which are usually

uneconomical.

Some say you haven’t experienced the outback if you haven’t sat

near a fire of Gidgee coal. (Gidgee is an extremely hard wood found

in these areas.) In the winter, the crisp clear nights with unbelievable

skies, a “cuppa tea” and a good “yarn” (talk) cannot be matched in

the city.

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There are genuine trees called by this name in Queensland, but this

one is a little different. Some miner with a good sense of humor.

“Bottle Tree” – Winton

Fossicking at Grawin

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Chapter 5. Opal mining and Fossicking

Prospecting drill: This is usually a nine inch auger (that’s the size of

the drill itself) other equipment are blowers (bottom right) which are

like giant vacuum cleaners that suck the overburden out from

underneath the ground where it is trucked to another location. This

saves a lot of time shoveling and wheeling rickshaws.

Slope driving at Koroit

In past years, the decision as to where to start digging an opal shaft

was left largely up to chance.

Many theories have been proposed as to the best spot to dig, from

walking around with a divining stick, to tossing a coin. From checking

the type of trees growing in an area, to the shapes of hills. A nine-

inch prospecting drill gives the miner some idea of what is

underneath. If there is evidence of precious opal or potch, or if the

sandstone has the right color, further investigation is considered

worthwhile. Some experienced miners just check where new

prospectors have been inspecting and a closer analysis of the little

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piles of dirt that the drill has left behind give them clues that maybe

others have missed.

When a digging decision is made, the large one meter ‘Calweld’ drill

(shaft bottom middle) is brought in, which replaces the need for the

miner to actually dig the shaft by hand as it was done in the past.

First shaft 1885 1 meter opal shaft Mullock Heaps

Mullock (above right with Dry Puddler in foreground): The opal dirt

that is removed from the mine and left in heaps at the top of the

hole. Or transported to dumps where a lot of tourists gather to

fossick for ‘the one that got away’ (Hence the term -‘Mullock heaps’)

Mike checking the level Mike and young Max

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Rickshaw: (below) A two wheeled, a hand driven trolley like a

wheelbarrow, used to cart the opal dirt from the face of the tunnel

back to the shaft. The dirt is unloaded into buckets, which are drawn

to the surface using either a windlass or a hoist.

Windlass: The instrument used in times past (and sometimes today)

to bring the mullock up out of the shaft.

Windlass at the ‘Ridge’ How they are made Video here

Hoist: An automatic system that has all but replaced the Windlass for

removing opal dirt from the shaft. (Picture: Dept of Mineral

Resources, NSW-) This system enables a miner to remove the opal

dirt without an assistant. It can be a ‘one man show’ although

advisable for safety reasons to always have a mining partner.

Butch’s Hoist (lightning Ridge) and underground digger

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Jackhammer: (below) A vibrating Chisel-like instrument, driven either

by electricity or an air compressor, that replaces the old hand pick,

used to loosen and dig out opal dirt, and hopefully opal rough.

Jackhammers Automatic hoist Agitator

The mullock when it has been brought to the surface is loaded on to a truck

and taken the agitator (above right) for washing and sorting (tail-out)

Spider: A term used to describe the piece of wire stuck into the wall

of the mine used to hold a candle underground. (Rarely used today.

Generator driven lights have taken over.)

Toe Dirt / Pay Dirt: The opal dirt that is closer to the ‘toe’ or foot of

the miner. It is the dirt that is away from the opal level and is

generally less likely to contain opal. Usually (but not always) the opal

is found near the “head” of the miner. (In contrast to the “toe”) He

works under the level, and this is called ‘pay dirt’ for obvious reasons.

(See “working the level” at the end of this chapter)

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Pay Dirt Toe Dirt Tail-out

Slide / Blow: The area underground where the opal level slips or

slides or changes direction. It is generally believed that opal occurs

more frequently when these changes take place.

Tail-out: This contains all the hard bits and pieces that were in the

opal dirt or clay. Hopefully, opal potch and precious opal. This is

poured out onto a sorting table where the miner carefully sorts

through to locate precious opal. The tail-out above has already been

separated from valueless potch and lumps of sandstone.

Snips: A hand held tool that is used to check rough opal in the tail-

out. By snipping the edge carefully, it can be established whether or

not there is color in the stone without actually using the diamond

blade. This procedure is risky. So, miners are careful to snip just a

small amount at a time in case they crack a stone. Impatience has

caused many valuable gems to be ruined.

Dry Puddler: Used instead of an agitator to extract opal. In this case

the goods are shaken and sieved to find the rough opal. NOTE: The

(below) process is mainly used at Lightning Ridge where nobby opal is

mined. The nobbies tend to be spread out more sparsely in the opal

dirt, hence requiring a large amount of the dirt to be washed. In the

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case of seam opal, the miner has a better chance of locating the

seams underground and plucking them out of the wall of the mine,

thus eliminating the need to wash all the dirt. This makes seam opal

mining very appealing, particularly during a drought when water is

scarce or the agitator site is a long way from the mine.

Dry Puddler Brian McCuddens Opal Shop

Opal Level: The level under the ground where opal is more likely to

be found. Usually associated with clay and sandstone. These are

probably the sludge leftovers from giant floods that took place

thousands of years ago. There is much speculation by evolutionists

and creationists as to the age of events. There is much disagreement

among scientists about the various clocks used.

Experiments at Lightning Ridge show that opal (albeit not secure

enough to use for commercial purposes) can grow in a matter of

years in the mullock, given the right chemical combinations and

reactions. Len Cram’s experiments in coke bottles in his back shed

testify to the truthfulness of this statement. This author has

personally inspected them.

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Chapter 6. OPAL CUTTING MACHINES

If you have the money, and want to get started quickly, just go to a

Lapidary store after you read this book and buy yourself the

equipment. There are water cooled diamond grinding machines with

rubberized diamond wheels in different grits. These machines are

good but can be expensive. You could pay up to $3000 and more for

a good set up. (Below left)

All diamond sander-polisher cheap homemade machine

But can save yourself a lot of money by just staying with the old time

proved systems using carborundum wheels with wet and dry

sandpaper. The machine on the right is the other extreme but still

does a good job. Homemade sanding machines can be made from old

washing machine motors from the dump or second hand store. The

RPM of the sanding head runs at the same speed as the motor, which

would be too fast normally, but with the water attachment, the heat

of the stone can be controlled, and the dopping medium kept f rom

overheating.

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Keep in mind as mentioned before that the pulley (often already

attached to the motor when you get it) can be used as a base for a

small sanding wheel (lap) when some plywood and rubber backing

have been attached to it as described.

However it’s probably best to purchase at least the Carborundum

grinding machine and diamond slicing machine, unless you are

experienced in the use of bearings, pulleys and shafts. A typical

grinder has two wheels. One 220 and the other 320 grit (See below)

Click here to see video close up of grinding wheel

If you want to attempt to make this yourself, you would need to take

a look at one, either at your local lapidary club or at a shop, and you

should be able to duplicate it with little difficulty. The only thing to

remember with this is the following in regard to speed of operation.

If you want to build the whole system, below is a plan for a grinding

machine made at home. You just need to buy shafts, belts, taps,

wheels, pulleys etc and most of the rest can be made of bits and

pieces of wood, screws, drills and wire.

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Many lapidaries will tell you to run the diamond blade slowly with

opal. This is a big mistake. Opal is not such a hard material like agate

for example. Opal slicing is best done either in water or with water

passing over it at a speed that will be achieved from an ordinary 1440

RPM, ¼ H.P. motor with a 6” pulley on the motor and a 1 & ½” pulley

on the shaft. If you don’t force the stone and you have plenty of

water passing over it, you will not cause any damage.

Freehand slicing machine with 6” diamond blade

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In fact your diamond blades will last longer because they will not

buckle as easy. (See an example of this machine in the chapter on

“Opal Cutting”)I personally prefer diamond blades that have the

water passing over them and then down into the drain. First, the

water is always clean and cool, second, particularly if you are cutting

boulder opal, it does not become muddy and warm, and third, you

won’t run the risk of getting the bottom part of your diamond blade

rusted up and ruined, because you forgot to drain the water.

My grinder runs on 4” to 4” pulleys with a 1/3 HP motor. (1/4 is OK if

you are not doing a lot of heavy grinding work.)

“If you are short of money, have plenty of time, and you like fiddling

about inventing things, why not have a go at making your own

sanding machine.”

The following information is a bit difficult to explain, but it should

give you a few clues as to what to do and you can experiment and

improve on it as you see fit.

You can mount an ordinary old washing machine motor (below) on a

bench top with a couple of aluminum or steel straps. Lay some old

rubber or foam down first. (Try to get a motor with a platform on it if

you want to avoid the straps.)

¼ or 1/3 HP motor strapped to the bench

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This will take care of all your sanding and polishing needs as

described later. Often, old washing machine motors have a pulley

already mounted on the shaft. Rather than buy an expensive work

head, you can turn the pulley into a work head without much

difficulty. If your motor already has a pulley on it, then screw a piece

of round plywood on to it, making sure that the screws are

countersunk so that the surface is smooth.

If you find the above instructions difficult to follow just join the discussion at

www.opalmine.com for some more help.

To make your sanding discs

Cut out some wooden discs from 3/8” to 1/” ply, whatever size you

decide on. (Anything from 4” to 8” will be fine. Try to make your discs

to a size that will give you the best value from your sandpaper

sheets. Screw or cement these discs centralized onto the pulley of

the motor (if there is a pulley) If not, you might have to buy some

fittings for this.

Stick some flat rubber onto the face of the discs with Contact

cement. Turn the motor on and hold some very course sandpaper

on a lump of wood, against the rubber. As the work head spins,

you can make the rubber nice and smooth. Work it just like a lathe.

Keep doing this until all the rough uneven spots are out, and the

surface is perfectly flat and the edge, round, with no rough spots. (Be

careful using sharp instruments such as knives while doing this. It is

easy for the blade to get caught on the wheel and jump back into

you. It nearly happened to me!)

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Sanding disc polishing sanding using water spray

Homemade sander with Foot Peddle water control

By the time you have finished this process, you will have a perfectly

even work head with few vibrations. Coat it with disc cement,

which is like Contact cement that doesn’t dry out (from a hardware

store) and allow to dry preferably overnight. (Better to give it a

couple of coats.) Don’t attempt to put sandpaper on it while it is still

tacky or you will end up with a mess. When it has dried, you will be

able to put on and pull off your various grades of sandpaper with

ease.

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Build a housing (or frame) around it out of wood and you have

yourself an effective work head. Cut yourself a piece of split chrome

leather, (Ask your local leather supplier) and stick this with contact

cement onto the face (not the back) of a piece of circular sandpaper.

This will allow you to peel the leather pad off when finished and stick

the sandpaper disc back on. This way (if you want to avoid making

two work heads, one for polishing and one for sanding, you can use

the leather lap on the same machine as your sanding discs. If you

are a little smart, by using course sandpaper, you can even make do

without a Carborundum grinder until you can afford one.

If you want to get really sophisticated, buy yourself an old

windscreen wiper/washer set from the wreckers or from your

local spare parts dealer. Mount the tank on the side of your work

and install the small motor somewhere close by. If you like you can

purchase a small on/off switch from Tandy (or other electronics

shop) and screw it somewhere handy.

But I prefer to have a water tank somewhere above your work space

with a hose and a tap that will operate with springs and string

attached to a foot pedal. This way you will have a water source that

you can turn on and off with your foot as you work your stones, thus

leaving both hands free to work. If you feel the stone is getting a

little hot or the sandpaper needs a little cleaning, give it a shot of

water. This is a more permanent arrangement as the small wiper

motors tend to wear out after a while.

If you use the above system, you can replace the epoxy on the

dopsticks with concreter’s or carpenters white glue. (We call it

‘Bondcrete’ and ‘Aquadhere’ in Australia) This is a much quicker

73

process, though it has to be left overnight to set. It’s superior to

epoxy in that if it does overheat a little, if you stop in time, it will re-

harden if you leave it for a few minutes. But once epoxy has

overheated, you have to start over again. (More about the dopping

process later)

The controlled spray of water is such an effective way of cooling,

cleaning, controlling dust and assisting in the sanding process. You

will realize after a while, that if you polish under water (as with the

diamond machines) all the time, it is difficult to see where the

scratches are. Dry sanding to me is more pleasant and satisfying, but

the water is there when you need it, to cool and to check. And, as a

bonus, you keep the dust down to a bare minimum without the use

of noisy and expensive vacuum attachments. Hang an old face towel

over your legs and wear a waterproof apron, or you will get very wet.

You will need the towel to wipe the stone as well to check progress.

However, as mentioned before, if you can afford a few dollars it

might be worth your while to get the units already complete. There

are some pretty neat little machines out there that are not so

expensive. Some of them are very portable and if you are a rock

hound or a trailer or caravan enthusiast, it would be hardly any room

to throw in the boot of the car and you could do your opal cutting on

the run. Here are some examples of machines that are available

online. (I believe some of them even operate off a car battery) Leave

a message here if you need help locating them.

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Saw and grinder Diamond saw grinder/sanders

Platform saw with grinder and end sander

75

Homemade Opal Sander Peter in the workshop around 1981

CHAPTER 7 OPAL CUTTING & PROCESSING Click here to see pictures of opal cutting machines

Associated Terms:

Opal Cutting: You would think, if you heard this term, that it means

merely the cutting of the opal, but actually it encompasses the whole

process of grading, sawing, sanding, polishing, weighing and often

marketing the stone.

Back: Obviously the back of the stone. This can be black, semi-black,

brown-grey, light-grey, white, transparent or full of opal color,

depending on the type of opal. (See opal definitions.) In the mass

production of triplets, microscope slides are often used as a backing

for triplets.

You can make your own natural backs for triplets and doublets out of

sliced potch, black, white, or grey. (See section on triplet and doublet

cutting) Crystal tops are mass produced and available from

specialized suppliers. You can make your own triplet top or cap from

glass or crystal quartz. (See ‘triplet’ section)

Dop Stick: A stick which is glued or ‘dopped’ to the stone, so that it

can be held in the hand and fashioned by the opal cutter. These dop

sticks can be made from steel (as in large nails or aluminum), or

wood. (Made from doweling material used in curtains and

available from hardware stores in various thickness)

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Cabochon: ‘Cab’ for short. (French: caboche “head) A stone which is

polished with a spherical top but not faceted. Cut and polished in a

convex, or domed shape.

Craze: A crack in the opal, often seen only under magnification.

Calibrate: To cut the stone into a specific shape and size that suits

the manufacturing jeweler. (Usually ovals, rarely rectangles) The

most popular sizes are: 6mm(round) and ovals: 6x4mm,7x5mm, 8x6

mm ,10x8 mm,12x10mm,14x10mm,18x13mm,and for use in belt

buckles, large pendants, bolas and brooches etc. 25x18mm,

30x22mm and 40x30mm. Plastic templates giving all these sizes and

more are available from most lapidary stores, but make sure the

chart you buy has as many of these important sizes as possible.

Particularly 8x6mm, 10x8mm, 14x10mm and 18x13mm.

Carborundum: A diamond-like dust that comes in different grades

of fine-ness that can be used as a gradual cutting and sanding

medium to fashion stones. The dust can be used in a tumbler or

vibrator to polish free shaped opals. It is also made into grinding

wheels.

Freeform: An irregular shaped stone. Anything that cannot be

described as an oval, a triangle or a square, etc.

Face: The top of the stone where all the color is found. Sometimes it

is a challenge for the opal cutter to determine which side of the

stone should be ‘faced’ when there is good color on both sides.

Lap: from Lapidary. (Pertaining to cutting precious stones.) A disc

that revolves and can be fitted with either metal impregnated with

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diamond, Carborundum grit, wet and dry sandpaper and various

other cutting mediums and polishes. The lap can have a rubber,

felt, or leather backing, depending on whether the stone is to be

ground, sanded or polished.

Many modern laps come with various diamond grades from course to

very fine so as to handle the complete process. Lapidary clubs can

help define the procedures.

Some opal cutters prefer Felt, and others Leather, to complete the

polishing process. Care with speed has to be taken with felt, as it

tends to get very hot. Some cutters allow grooves to develop in felt

wheels and use Pumice powder as a pre polish before Cerium or Tin

Oxide.

I have found this to be unnecessary if a proper pre polish is

accomplished using 500,600,700 or 800 grit sandpaper. (They all do

the same thing, depending on how much they are worn and which

brand you use)

Carat: A small weight standard used in measuring precious stones.

Originally, seed of the carob plant, used by the ancients as a weight

standard. Five modern carats equal one gram.

Carats are used in weighing precious stones that have been

completed. A 10x8mm solid opal with a medium dome weighs just

over one carat, 8x6, just under. Carat scales. These were the only

thing available for weighing carats in times past but today are nearly

reaching antique status.

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The modern electronic scales - are more convenient to use, and not

so expensive. The compact version of these is very handy.

Troy oz: A traditional measurement used in weighing rough opal or

other precious materials such as gold or silver. A troy oz contains

twenty pennyweights. 12 oz =1 pound. (0.82286 lb. avoirdupois) In

recent times it has been the practice in Australia to use the

decimal system for convenience since the troy system is not readily

available and obviously more people are familiar with decimals.

Incidentally, in Lightning Ridge, rough opal is usually sold in job lots

and not weighed at all, but in Coober Pedy, it is usually weighed

A “Parcel”: The term used to describe an amount of opal (whether

rough or cut) to be sold as one lot. Terms like “splitting the parcel”

are obvious. It happens when a customer likes one or more of the

stones in the parcel, but does not want to buy the whole lot. If the

miner or cutter is willing, a price is negotiated based on the quality

selected and the amount chosen.

Solid Opal: An opal that is cut as a solid piece, without any added

backing or capping.

Doublet: A finished opal consisting of an opal top cemented to a

black potch backing. The dark background then gives the

appearance of natural black opal.

Triplet: A finished opal consisting of a quartz crystal top, a thin opal

middle, and either potch or similar material

Buying Rough Opal for Cutting

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Until a few years ago, most opal available for either amateur or

professional cutters has been white or crystal opal from the South

Australian fields. In recent years, more opal has been found in the

Lightning Ridge area and thus rough has been available for sale.

Rough can be purchased in a variety or different conditions. As

follows:

Mine Run: Direct from the mine. The stones have not been cut or

ground down. This means that there is more guesswork in the

cutting. You have the chance of making a bonanza or you could lose

some or all of your money. Purchasing opal this way can be risky if

you are not very experienced.

Off cuts: You buy this after the miner has removed whatever opal he

has a market for. The quality of what is left is more obvious (but not

always) and you can tell basically what you are going to be able to

cut. Of course attention has to be paid to cracks in the opal or a good

stone could be halved in value once the crack becomes obvious.

Rubs: This can often be the best way of buying rough if you are not

very experienced. The miner has cut and ground the stones into

basic shapes, after having removed most of the rubbish. What you

have left is the stone nearly ready for the dopping and polishing

process. You can have the satisfaction of cutting your own stones

without the high risk of buying mine run rough.

Tips for Cutting

Opal is one of the easiest stones to cut. The problem is not in the

cutting of the stone. The trick is in chasing the color and making sure

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that you approach it from the right direction. This takes time to learn

but more common sense than anything else.

You know that you want the greatest amount of color with the least

imperfections to be exposed, so let your eye tell you what to do. Just

keep grinding away the imperfections as much as possible without

losing the color.

Fashioning an opal out of the rough is a constant juggle between

imperfections, cracks, the height of the dome and the thickness of

the stone.

Your eye will tell you that a larger stone will need to be thicker than a

small stone. Obviously you want the dome, particularly on an oval

stone, to be nice and high so that when you go to set it, the claws or

bezel (see jewelry making later) will easily fit and not chip away the

edges of the stone.

A good move would be to spend a little time at a lapidary club and

find out the basics of cabochon cutting. Be sure to keep your end use

in mind before you decide on shapes.

If you are just cutting a piece to put in your collection, the shape may

be of no consequence. If however, you are going to have it set in a

piece of jewelry, remember that it could make the job cheaper for

you if you sacrifice a little of the opal and make it into a calibrated

stone.

10 Steps in Cutting Opal

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Briefly, here are the main steps for cutting all opal except boulder

opal.

1) Examine and select the rough stone. Separate the good from the

poor quality. (This is called ‘grading’)

2) Clean the stone. This usually means a combination of grinding

some potch away on the wet grinder, and slicing on the diamond

blade, so that the direction of the color can be seen.

3) Decide on shapes. Allow the stone to dry and draw the shapes

with a very sharp hard lead or aluminum pencil

4) Grind or slice off the unwanted areas, using the grinder and

diamond blade once again.

5) Put the stones on dopsticks. So that you can hold them without

grinding your fingers away..

6) Grind and clean them into the desires shapes.

7) Proceed with the sanding process, through approx. 3 different

sandpaper or diamond wheel grades.

8) Final Polish. Using either Tin Oxide or Cerium oxide powder on a

leather or felt buff.

9) Take the stones off the sticks with either boiling hot water, or if

using sealing wax…in a freezer.

10) Reverse the stones, re - dop them, and repeat the process.

Now let’s look at each of these procedures more closely:

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Starting from a piece of mine-run opal. (That is a piece of opal that

is right out of the ground without any cutting or human

interference.) This section applies mainly to seam, knobby, and pipe

opal, not boulder opal. Boulder opal cutting while based on the same

methods has to be approached in a different manner. (See below))

1. Examine the stone carefully for any hint of color. Use a lapidary

grindstone that has water running over it. (Possibly a 220 or 320 grit

carborundum or diamond wheel, or courser if you are careful)

Carefully grind away the opal potch until you can see where the

color is going. When you have exposed enough color, you must

determine which side of the stone is going to form the top and which

the back. Sometimes there is more than one line or bar of colour. You

have to decide where to slice the stone to get the most results from

these bars.

This decision is based on where you think the color is going to be

brighter and the back blacker. (In the case of a black opal) The same

applies to white opal, but the back may be light in color or have no

dark background at all in the case of a full crystal.

In the case of boulder opal, it is usually necessary to slice the stone

with the diamond blade first and “block” it out. (That means to cut it

into workable chunks) Examine very carefully which way the seams of

opal are going, and then decide which side of the thin veins you will

remove the ironstone.

This is very tricky, even for an experienced boulder cutter because

you cannot see inside the stone and you will always cut through color

that you should not but you just have to make the most of it and cut

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the shapes according to where the slices happen to be. You can

minimize this by using your wet grinder a lot to determine which

direction the veins are going before you start slicing

2. When the face of the stone is completely exposed, allow it to dry

out first and check for crazes. (Cracks) This is very important because

many cracks do not appear until the stone is dry. Mark these with a

sharp hard lead pencil. (If you use a marker pen, in most cases it will

wash off as you grind further.)

Use the same pencil to mark out the shape you want, carefully

avoiding as many imperfections as possible. You may be tempted to

cut a large stone, but keep in mind that two or three perfect stones

may be a lot more valuable than one big ugly one.

Having said that of course, if you are a goldsmith or you are familiar

with the process of Electro-forming, you can cover some of these

imperfections with gold or silver and make it part of the design.

3. Remember the end use of your stone. Perhaps you will need to

calibrate it. In which case, get a pencil with very hard lead and make

it very sharp. (Or make an aluminum (aluminium in Australia) pen

out of a rod and sharpen it.) This way you can lay your calibrating

template over the area you want to cut and mark the exact shape on

the stone. (Refer to ‘Calibrate’ to determine popular sizes.) With a

lot of practice you can do this by eye, but this will get you started.

4. Use your diamond blade – (10 thou blade is a good all-round

thickness.) When using the diamond blade, don’t force it to cut. Just

rest the stone against the blade and allow it to do its job. If the stone

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is quite thick, you may need to pull it away from the blade and allow

the water to clean the incision.

If you are making an oval, you can cut the corners off and save the off

cuts for use in chip jewelry. If you do this, be sure to leave at least a

1mm space, so you do not undercut the stone. The thickness of the

stone is determined by the amount of opal you have to play with. If it

is a thick stone, you may have to cut it down. Larger stones will be

thicker, smaller stones thinner. You have to get the feel of this. If

the color is thick enough, you can consider slicing it down the middle

and making two stones. But practice first or you could ruin some

good stones. I remember turning a $6000 black opal into a $10,000

stone by making two stones out of one thick bar of color. The Miner

was delighted!

5. Allow the stone to dry out and examine it carefully to make sure

you have not missed any cracks (you might need one of these if your

eyes are like mine after 30 years glaring at stones.) – It is now ready

for dopping.

The old process of dopping - involved the use of sealing wax and a

metholated spirits (wood alcohol) lamp, and was a drawn out process

The most efficient method now, is to use quick dry epoxy (Called

araldite in Australia.) Mix up just enough epoxy to do the stones you

have cut. Put the dopsticks in a stand, and put a little epoxy on each

one. Then carefully balance the stones, back down (so that the face is

looking at you) on the sticks. Leave them to dry preferably overnight,

although if you are careful, you can work on them within an hour.

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6. With your wet grinder, proceed to fashion the stones into the

desired shape, taking off the rough edges

It’s best to do this whole process with some cheap potch first so that

you can get the feel of it before trying a good stone.

A few lessons at a lapidary club would be good before you attempt

this because it is difficult to explain by writing. However, one hand is

used to hold the stone and the other to twist it and rotate it so as to

get a perfect dome or flat or whatever surface is desired. You are

actually using your hands like a flexible lathe.

7. The next process is sanding. If using sandpaper, start with around

320 grit. If it is new paper, you may have to rub a little potch on it

to take away the sharpness. Keep in mind that if the edge of the

wheel is a little worn, you can go towards the middle for a less worn

sand. By using disc cement on your rubber lap, you can peel off each

grade of sandpaper and replace it with another without having to

have a whole lot of different laps.

Some cutters use soft rubber on the lap believing that it will be easier

to fashion the stone, but I believe that harder rubber backing is

better, particularly when a flat surface is being sanded.

To get the scratches out of the middle of flat surfaces, you have to

sand right on the edge of the stone. This means you have to make

sure to cut your sandpaper discs about a quarter of an inch (8-10mm)

wider than your sanding disc.

8. Remember that getting the “feel” of opal cutting involves the

juggling of various grades of sandpaper. A worn 320 can be

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similar in effect to a new 600, and a worn 600 can have a similar

effect to a new 1200. (Also remember that the higher the number

on the sandpaper sheet or diamond powder, the finer the polish. i.e.

a 600 sandpaper or diamond dust is much finer than 320 grit.)

It is important to detect whether or not your paper is cutting or

polishing. If you have not removed all the scratches on the 320 paper

or new 600, you will not get them out when the paper is worn or

finer.

Of course if you have come off the 320 sander onto the 600 and the

scratches are still not out, you can move the stone toward the middle

of the lap (if it is a high domed stone) where you will find some 600

grit that is still quite new, or you can work the stone at the

extremities of the lap (if the stone is flat) where the action is faster

and more able to “dig” in more.

Be careful you do not slip or you will cut your finger on the edge of

the sandpaper.

This is a way of getting rid of scratches without going back to the

previous polish. Of course you can only do this while there is life left

in your paper. Eventually it will be worn right across the surface, or

torn on the edges. Carefully examine each of the steps as you

proceed toward the final process, checking minor scratches, and you

will get an impressive polish.

While you are doing this, you will experience all the little annoyances,

such as:

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Sandpaper sticking to the disc and tearing as you take it off. This

happens for two reasons. First that you have not allowed enough

time for the disc cement to dry after you have given it a new coat,

before putting the new sheet on, and secondly that you have left the

paper on for a long time and done a lot of sanding. The paper tends

to “weld” itself to the rubber.

It’s wise to take the papers off the lap at reasonably short

intervals if you want to avoid this. Of course if you have been pulling

the sheets on and off for a long time, the cement won’t be so sticky.

You will find that, even if the papers are threatening to drop off, once

you heat the wheel up a bit by putting pressure on it with a stone,

the cement comes to life again. Disc cements can be restored to

adhesion by heat, until there is an excess of dust buildup.

If you find that your wheel is getting full of bits of paper from the

back of the sandpaper, use some Mineral turps, or Petrol (motor

spirit) to clean the wheel, and eventually re-cement it with disc

cement. Metholated spirits will not clean disc cement, only epoxy.

Stones flicking off sticks. This usually happens if you get them too

hot, and is more prone to happen when you are cleaning the backs of

the stones because the polished surface that is seated onto the

Dopstick does not hold the glue as well as the rough back of the

stone. Allow longer time to dry.

If you are using water based glue for dopping, allow plenty of time to

dry and if you want to be sure they won’t come off, turn the sticks

the other way around and put some more glue on so that the whole

stone is adhered. Then allow plenty of time for that glue to dry as

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well. You can hurry this process up a bit by applying a blower heater

to them but if you get yourself into a good system, it’s best to leave

them overnight. If you are using quick dry epoxy, allow a few hours

for it to dry, but……

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN TAKING THE GLUE OFF THE TOP OF THE

STONE. It is easy for the glue to “pull” sections of the stone away.

Use boiling water to get the stones off the sticks and soak the stones

in wood alcohol (metholated spirits or vinegar) to dissolve the epoxy.

Boiling water can also be used to remove stones from the water

based white glue as well. If you are using wood glue, you won’t have

this problem. You just soak it in water.

9. If the stone does not have a nice high dome and is rather flat,

keep in mind that it is necessary to make sure it has a “setting edge”

all around the stone. The best way to explain what I mean by this

is for you to imagine that you’re trying to close four gold claws

over the stone, or you’re trying to rub a gold bezel over the edge of

it to hold it in the setting. Every stone must have a “shoulder”, even

if it is only a very small one.

If there is no “chamfer” or slight angle, or setting edge, it will be

very difficult to close the claws or the bezel over it without chipping

the edge. So, even if a bit of the black potch or ironstone backing

shows as you grind the stone, it must not have a sharp edge around

the rim. The greater the setting edge, the easier it is to set.

10. The Sanding Process proceed to the final stage, which is the

polish. I find a leather lap the best, primed with cerium oxide. You

can try various grades of this but some cerium is so good that you

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can take some small scratches out with it even when you have

missed them in the sanding process. This is done by priming it with

a generous amount and holding the stone right on the edge of the

leather lap, making sure that you don’t overheat it.

11. When the top of the stone is complete, it’s time to dop again,

this time with the front of the stone down. Then repeat the process

mentioned above, to finish the bottom of the stone. If you are

cutting an oval and the shape is not perfect, you can often correct it

while cutting the back, just by readjusting the side of the stone. At

this point the stone can be weighed and bagged.

NOTE: The above process is applicable mainly if you are using the old

fashioned sanding process, which I still prefer. You can make it a lot

easier on yourself if you go into a full diamond cutting and polishing

system which could cost around $3000. In which case, your

suppliers may be able to arrange some lessons for you.

But my process can be assembled very cheaply and pieces of

sandpaper are a lot less expensive to throw away than diamond

wheels when they wear out. And frankly, the system I use, in my

opinion is just as effective, if not more. Please refer to the section,

“How to build an opal cutting machine” if you want to try your hand.

Traps for Young Players

Here’s what happened to me when I started.

Stones kept coming off the dopsticks. (This was disastrous back then

because we always used sealing wax on the dopsticks and the

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wax would dig itself into the sandpaper, taking away it’s

abrasiveness.)

Today with epoxies it’s not as bad, but still annoying because you

have to re-dop all the time. The main reason for this problem is that

you are forcing the process too much. Applying too much pressure

and causing too much heat. Epoxy does not like heat. So have a few

stones on sticks and if you feel one heating up, put it down, let it

cool and so onto another. Be patient!!!

Another problem was that the Carborundum wheel kept getting out

of balance. Make sure you purchase a diamond-correcting tool

Learn how to even the stone up and keep the surface smooth. Of

course if you are using diamond wheels, this will not be necessary.

Diamond wheels are fine for most opal cutting but, unless you have

specialized round edge diamonds, they are no good for boulder opals

or other opals with concaves (valleys) in the surface.

Be prepared for the stone that flicks off the stick and gets lost in the

room. Try to have enough cover over your sander particularly so

that stones that come off are flicked back onto your work area. (See

my sander/polisher design) If you have a concrete floor, put an old

piece of carpet under your workbench in case you drop a stone.

Make sure your lighting is good. Buy yourself a proper extendible

desk light or two and keep them away from the water.

Make sure all switches and electrical motors are protected from

splashing for obvious reasons. Get yourself a comfortable chair.

Preferably one that is adjustable so that you can get the right

position. When sanding, remember the dust in the air and if you are

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not using water when sanding, be extra careful of breathing silica.

Wear a face mask.

Opal Undulates (our terminology) Polishing uneven surfaces,

particularly boulder opal is a very skillful job that requires specialized

assistance. We have not covered these details extensively in this

book so if you want to get more information on the subject, just join

our newsletter at www.opalmine.com

However you can take a look at the comments on the use of flexi

drive equipment in the ‘Machinery’ section of this book.

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CHAPTER 8. MAKING DOUBLETS & TRIPLETS

Large manufacturers of triplets have special slicing machines

involving the pumping of liquid carborundum grit over the stones

which are cut into thin slices using a vibration process. There is really

no point in trying to do this. Its better to just use your diamond

slicing blade and use the edge of your grinding wheel as a flatting

disc. Here is the process to make opal laminates (doublets and

triplets)

1. Determine which side is to be the top and which the back.

Flatten the back on a wet diamond-flatting disc* or on the side of

your Carborundum wheel. (You may have to remove the water jet

from the top of the wheel and either hold it onto your work on the

side of the wheel or rid up a jig to hold it.)

2. If there are any bits of dirt in the back of the opal slice, try to dig

these out on the edge of your wheel. Or use a dental flexi drive**

with a small diamond ball or bullet (if you have one), to grind away

fine marks. It doesn’t matter if there are a few holes (as long as they

are not too deep) in the back of your slice because these will not be

noticed later when it is cemented onto the back. **Some hardware

stores supply a cheap version of the dental machine, called a

“dremmel”.

3. Please note that there is another way of making doublets

without having to flatten the back. You can make them into boulder

doublets but this means that the joining edge will be uneven and you

must mix some very fine boulder ironstone (that you can collect from

your grinding wheel) with epoxy.

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4. Try to match it so that the glue line will look the same as the

ironstone back, thus giving you a natural looking doublet that looks

like a solid boulder opal. You will have to experiment with this one till

you perfect it as it takes a lot of experience. If you are using this

process with Coober Pedy Shell off-cuts, and there is a large area to

fill with epoxy, you will have some cracking problems if the glue

shrinks, so keep the cavity as shallow as possible. This method will

give you a better return from your doublet material, as there is very

little waste. Be very careful not to overheat the stone when sanding

doublets. You can easily crack the stone. Sand under water most of

the time.

5. Save any black pieces of potch in a parcel. Slice them up for use

as backings for doublets. When they have been sliced, they are

usually flat enough to attach the opal slice. At this point, an old

electric frying pan can come in handy because you can warm your

stone up on it, making sure there is no moisture left on it. Try not to

touch the front of the stone with your fingers. Try to use tweezers,

because the oils out of your skin could affect the cement later.

6. With the back of the opal slice facing upwards, black it out, using

an Artline (or similar) spirit based texta pen (felt pen) so that no light

is seen through the stone. (Don’t use water-based pens.) When you

look at the face of the opal sliver, you will notice the depth of color

coming out.

7. The stone then starts to take on the appearance of a black

opal. A good way of handling your work is to cut up pieces of glass

or stone, and put some blue tack (sticky stuff like play dough) on

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them. You can put your opal on the blue tack and handle it without

getting your fingers too sticky.

8. Mix the “A” and “B” parts of the epoxy together with a little

nigrosene powder, (usually available at lapidary shops) put some of

the glue on the slice of the black potch. Then place the opal slice,

back (black side) down onto the slightly warmed potch backing.

“Seat” it down so that all air bubbles are removed and allow to dry.

(Not too much heat. Epoxy does not like to be overheated) If it is a

cool day, just warm it up under the desk light for a while, or warm it

on a hot plate.

Suggestion As already mentioned, if you need a heat source for your

opal slices, use an old aluminum frying pan instead of an expensive

heating plate. It has a controlled head and does the same job. Note:

There is a disagreement as to whether quick dry or slow dry epoxies

are better. I personally have not found any difference but slow

dry is supposed to be a better cement so you can experiment with

both.

9. When it is dry, you can pencil-draw the shape you want on the

top of the stone and then slice and grind it into shape, after which

you just put it onto a dop stick, the same way as you would an

ordinary solid piece of opal. Then proceed to finish off the back in

the same way as you would do with a solid, but make sure you don’t

grind too much away from the edge of the back or you may undercut

the opal on the top. (A Particular problem with triplets because of

the clear crystal cap.) Experiment with a cheap one and you will know

what I mean.

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10. As with solids, if it is a very flat stone, you need to cut a

chamfer around the top to give it a setting edge. If you don’t do this,

and if the stone is to be set by a manufacturing jeweler, he will find it

very difficult to close the bezel or the claws on it without chipping

the edge of the stone.

11. Determine which side is to be the top and which the back.

Flatten the back on a wet diamond-flatting disc* or on the side of

your Carborundum wheel. (You may have to remove the water jet

from the top of the wheel and either hold it onto your work on the

side of the wheel or rig up a jig to hold it.)

12. If there are any bits of dirt in the back of the opal slice, try to

dig these out on the edge of your wheel. Or use a dental flexi drive**

with a small diamond ball or bullet (if you have one), to grind away

fine marks. It doesn’t matter if there are a few holes (as long as they

are not too deep) in the back of your slice because these will not be

noticed later when it is cemented onto the back. **Some hardware

stores supply a cheap version of the dental machine, called a

“dremmel”.

NOTE: If you are unable to locate nigrosene powder, you can just use

straight clear epoxy for your doublets. Just make sure that there is

enough texta on the back of the opal slice so that no light is allowed

to come through. Some triplet cutters also use flat black spray paint

to cover the back of the slice. This seems to work OK, but you would

need to test it out before making a lot of stones. Some also use

Indian ink…. and it may be possible to buy black epoxy. You can

experiment.

96

Keep in mind too, that it doesn’t matter how solid your black color is

on the back of the stone, if the front of the stone is very crystalline or

jelly-like, and if you haven’t taken all the little marks out of the back

in the grinding process, they will show up as you look into the stone.

Actually they will be accentuated (made to stand out) against a

background of darkness. So after you have cleaned up your doublet

top, take a close look at it after it dries to make sure that all rubbish

is taken away from the back, before you blacken it.

If you don’t blacken the back of your opal slice, you will have trouble

with air bubbles showing through. Professional triplet makers have

this problem all the time when cementing on the clear crystal caps.

Experience will show you how to avoid this by being careful not to

stir the glue vigorously, and heating it to evaporate the bubbles.

Some pass a careful flame over it to get the same effect.

If you were doing triplets on a larger scale, you would be better

to experiment with ultra violet light sensitive glues. But these glues

are not generally available in stores.

Doublets

Note that doublet making is the same procedure as has been

described for triplets except that a doublet is made of two

pieces rather than one. A doublet is a triplet without the crystal

cap, albeit the opal top is thicker.

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JEWELRY DESIGN IDEAS

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF JEWELRY

DESIGN IDEAS FOR OPAL

98

CHAPTER 9 SETTING YOUR STONES Basic Terms Associated with Jewelry Setting

Findings: (Below) A piece of jewellery that has been cast. However,

the term has been extended to encompass all cheaper settings, some

which are findings, others pressings. (Shapes cut out with a press.)

Plating: G.P (gold plate) thickness measured in microns. Often used in

cheaper jewelry to give brass or another base metal a gold

appearance. S.P, (silver plate) R.P (Rhodium plate) - rhodium is often

used in cheap settings in preference to silver as it is harder and does

not tarnish like silver. S.G.P., (silver gold plate) G.F (Gold filled)

Filigree: Delicate, lace-like ornamental designs. Once done by hand,

but now can be cast. Usually associated with more ornate

(complicated) jewelry rather than plain straightforward designs.

Antique: As the name suggests, it resurrects designs that could be

hundreds of years old, often associated with filigree and ornate

“scroll “and “leaf” shapes.

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Organic: Designs that roughly resemble what is seen in nature,

such as the roots of trees and leaves, etc. Above is an example

of a large free form triplet wrapped in 14k yellow gold using the

lost-wax system of creating organic designs. Please note that

definitions of jewelry items do vary from one country to another.

Claw set: Stone is held in by claws. Most popular, four claws, but

there can be any amount.

Bezel set: (below left) Metal is actually rolled onto the stone, or in the

case of cheap gold plated settings, the bezel looks as though it is

being held in by the gold. (Actually, it is the cement at the back of the

stone doing the job.)

Bezels Bales Bell Caps Jump rings

Bale: The small hanger attached to the top of a pendant that the

chain goes through. Some bales are made as a part of the pendant

itself. Others have to be attached by hand. (Above left)

Special Bales: (below) for use when a hole is drilled through a stone

(boulder opal for example.) These pendant fittings save a lot of

manufacturing time and costs and display the pendant beautifully.

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Hook-in Bales Fitted to drilled boulder opal Pearl Bale

Bell Cap: A small cap that comes in various shapes and sizes that can

be cemented onto the top of a cheaper stone to make it

useable as a pendant with very little expense. Bales usually have to

be fitted to the top after cementing. (Above centre right)

Jump Ring: The small rings used to attach things onto a pendant or

bracelet. (Above right)

Parrot Clip: A small clip or clasp that looks a little like a parrot beak,

used to join chains or bracelets together. (Below)

Parrot Fishhook Continental butterfly clip butterflies

Fish Hook: Pierced earring fitting that resembles a fishhook. (Above)

Continental Clip: Pierced earring fitting that resembles a fishhook but

with a safety clip attached. (Above)

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Butterfly Clip: A small pin that goes through the ear, usually with a

small gold ball attached. The clip is secured in the ear by a small

clutch resembling a butterfly. These can be used either for stud or

drop earrings. (Above)

Stud Earring: (Below). Earring actually sits on the ear itself. These

can be either pierced, clamp or screw.

Drop Earring: (Below) When the stone or jewelry item drops or

dangles from the ear lobe. These can be either pierced, clamp or

screw.

Drop Stud Screw Clamp

Clamp Earring: The fitting holds onto the ear lobe with a clamp

system. (Above right)

Screw Earring: The fitting holds on to the ear lobe using a

screw system. (Above centre right)

Screw Clamp: both an adjustable screw and a spring hinge hold the

earring. (Similar to screw earrings above except for spring fitting)

Shank: (In rings), the part that surrounds the finger. The top part is

called the shoulder. The shank can be tapered, (wider at the top

and narrow at the bottom, or the opposite (reverse tapered)

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Other Fittings

Bullets and clutches (below) Can be used to protect brooch pins and

shorter versions can be used instead of butterflies for pierced

earrings.

Bola Fittings To set stones into an adjustable pendant used with

either a thin woven whip, leather chord, or black rubber hangers

Stone attachment Bezel settings Cattle head Cord end fittings

Take a Look at Your Goals in Wanting to Deal in Opal

If you want to specialize in cutting opal, (which in my opinion is the

most satisfying and lucrative) then leave all the complicated stuff to

the experts. If you have had no background in manufacturing jewelry,

this process is best left up to someone who has learnt it from youth,

unless your goals are in working with metal as well as or instead of

stone.

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There are plenty of small manufacturing jewelers who will make up

your stones at a very reasonable price. Markets or Swap Meets are

good places to locate these, or the business section of your

telephone directory under ‘Manufacturing Jewelers’.

Many of these Jewelers may want to know who the heck you are,

because they may be used to dealing with the ‘Trade’ and do not

want to give the best prices to the ‘Public’ or people not in the

‘Trade’. I found the best approach, (after you speak with a little

authority as a result of reading this book) is to tell them you are an

opal dealer, embarking on a new business, and you would like to get

prices on the following items:

Pendants, rings, earrings, (most popular jewelry items) broaches,

pins, bracelets, etc. (not so popular). If you have a flair for designing,

then submit your own designs. If not, get the jeweler to make

suggestions and get him to quote you in whatever metal you want.

Silver, 9, 10, 14, 18k gold (yellow or white), and whether you want

some small diamonds to accompany the design.

Keep in mind that some jewelers specialize in certain metals. Some

silversmiths don’t like working in gold and some goldsmiths don’t

work in silver. Some do both. Some only do hand made goods. Some

work in wax and do casting. You have to locate the right guy.

Take stone values into consideration too. You would not want to put

an expensive black opal in a silver setting and it would not be logical

to put a cheap opal in solid gold. It would be better to put it in silver

and if you like the gold tone, have it plated with gold.

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This can be a bit of a problem with rings, as the plating does wear off

in time, so it may just be better to spend a little extra money and

have it made in lower grade gold such as 9 or10k. Pendants and

brooches, or anything that does not come in direct contact with the

skin are fine in gold plate.

Gold: Because this metal is so often used in conjunction with opal (as

with all precious stones), I thought it informative to give a brief

description of its properties. It comes in 10k, 12k, 14k, and 18 karat

standards (a “Karat” or “Carat” – originally the horn shape pod of a

carob tree used by the ancients) 14k & 18k (or ct.) is popular in the

US,9k and 18k in the U.K. and 18k in Europe. People often get

confused between applying the term “carat” to both gold and

precious stones. For this reason, we offer an extended explanation of

a carat in this discussion about gold.

Carat: term expressing the ratio of precious metal to base metal in

an alloy; also a unit of weight for precious stones. In the first sense, a

carat (usually spelled karat) indicates 1/24 part by weight of a

precious metal, such as gold, in an alloy. Thus, 18-karat gold is 18/24

or 3/4 gold and 24- karat gold is pure gold. As a unit of weight for

precious stones, Understanding this remarkable metal

Pure gold is the most malleable and ductile of all the metals. It can

easily be beaten or hammered to a thickness of 0.000013 cm

(0.000005 in), and 29 g (1.02 oz) could be drawn into a wire 100 km

(62 miles) long. It is one of the softest metals (hardness, 2.5 to 3) and

is a good conductor of heat and electricity.

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Many people view the ownership of the gold as being more

important than the wearing of it, and insist on either 22 or 24-carat

(pure) gold. Others just enjoy wearing it for the beauty and rarity of

the metal. (For general purpose wearing, particularly for rings with

claws, this is not practical, as the claws are so soft, it can release the

stone.) Bezel or rub- in settings may be different, and it is easier for

the jeweler to work in the softer gold.

There are different ways or expressing the above standards. The

standard described above is expressed in fractions of 24.The other

system is decimal, expressed in percentage of 1000 as follows:

Silver can be pure, or that near to it that it doesn’t matter. The British

standard, which is accepted practically everywhere, is called Sterling

Silver. (925) keep in mind that standards for silver definitely vary

from one country to another, particularly in third world countries. A

tourist may be told that an item is silver but it is not necessarily

Sterling Silver and could be of inferior quality. Not that there is any

big deal in this anyway as silver is a very cheap metal, costing in the

vicinity of 50 cents per gram, depending on supply and demand,

whereas pure gold can cost between $20 and $30 per gram.

As a rough guide, buying gold direct from the refiners (At the time of

the first edition of this book, October 1997) Gold cost approximately

the same amount (or a little less) per gram as its carat standard. (i.e.,

18 carat gold is around about US $10 to $15 per gram, depending on

the price for the day and whether there has been a major war, or

catastrophe, in which case many people start buying gold for security

reasons.)

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At this date, September, 2012, the price of gold has gone through the

roof at around $1700 per troy oz. At least 5 times the price of what it

was back then.

Another approach to having your opal set is to get a jeweler to make

up a design to a specific calibration such as a 10x8mm opal. (See

section on calibrations) This can be done in a cheaper metal such as

silver because you are not going to actually use the ring to wear or

sell, you will keep it as a standard for mass production.

The jeweler who knows about casting will understand that he has to

make the calibration about 10% larger, because in the casting

process, the gold shrinks slightly.

It’s a good idea to talk to a Caster about this before you see the

jeweler, so that you know his methods because they all vary slightly.

You can find casters, again, in your telephone directory under

‘Jewelers-Casters’ or ‘Precious Metal Castings’. Some Casters have a

catalogue of items already available in standard sizes, which could

save you all the trouble of creating a new design. Prices of castings

will depend on the amount of items you order.

An Easier and Cheaper Method

Keep in mind that, at least in the US and most of the Western world,

for every person who can afford $500 for a jewelry item, there are

500 that can spend $50. This was much different in Japan. Until the

recent downturn, a Japanese opal dealer friend of mine, nearly a

billionaire doesn’t bother much buying stones under $5,000. His best

market is $10,000, and he sells lots of them between $20,000 and

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$30,000. One day I was with him when he paid $35,000 for a stone,

just with ‘pocket money’!

During one trip to Osaka, when I put on an Australian display in a

little boutique belonging to a friend of mine, I was amazed at all the

little ladies arriving on their push bikes with purses stuffed with

Japanese Yen. (They rarely use checks in Japan) In one week we sold

around $50 000. (That was before the earthquake upset the

economy. We will be going back again when things settle down. In

the meantime I’m writing this book.)

Back to the point though: If the stone is nearly a popular calibrated

size (such as 6x4, 7x5, 8x6 or 10x8 or any of the other size mentioned

earlier) you can take a little extra time to calibrate it. Then you will be

able to fit your stones very simply into standard gold plated and

silver settings, which will cost just a few dollars.

I am able to supply a lot of these ‘findings’ as they are called in

Australia, but if you search, again, in your telephone directory under

‘Jewelry findings’ or ‘Plated jewelry’, you should be able to locate a

catalogue. Items needed for setting cheap findings. Please leave a

message here if you want to see our extensive range.

Shopping list for accessories to help in jewelry setting

1. Quick Dry Epoxy Resin, ‘A’ and ‘B’ packs. (Ask in your hardware

store)

2. Blue-Tack (as it’s called in Australia) - a material that resembles

chewing gum but not as Sticky. Normally used for the temporary

sticking of things on walls.

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3. Tooth picks or matches. (Flattened like a small spatchula on the

end for best control)

4. A good desk lamp. (100-150w)

5. Metholated spirits (wood alcohol - ‘metho’ for short) - for

cleaning and removing poorly set stones, and wiping sticky fingers.

6. Some plastic or wooden rulers or strips of wood.

7. Some cardboard. Small pieces of (Old business cards are perfect

8. Sheet of wet and dry sandpaper. (Can be from 220 to 600 grit.

Check at your hardware store.) This is easier to handle if you pin it or

cement it onto a flat piece of wood

9. A heavy needle or better still a sharp pointed instrument with a

wooden handle that can be used for scratching metal surfaces.

10. A quantity of seal-top plastic bags.

11. A pair of setting pliers. Below is handiest little plier shape I have

ever used.

Method

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1. Cover your workplace with old cloth or a piece of newspaper to

protect your desk.

2. Roll out some Blue-Tack and place it on a plastic ruler. (Or strip of

wood)

3. Using the plastic bags, sort out what stones are to be set in what

settings. Make sure earring stones and earring/pendant sets match

properly before starting. (Nothing worse than being in the middle of

a setting job with the glue going off, and the wrong stones selected.)

4. Place the jewelry item (finding) onto the Blue-Tack, making sure

it is as flat (horizontal) as possible. Use thicker Blue-Tack if your item

is odd shaped underneath. Brooches always need a higher “hill” of

blue tack so that they can sit evenly. If you are gluing bell caps, stand

the stones in the blue-tack, open the bell caps right up, and place a

healthy dollop of the glue on top of each stone and seat the caps on

top. Allow drying before you close the extensions of the bell cap

down.

5. With a flattened toothpick or match, mix approximately equal

portions of epoxy resin together on a piece of cardboard. (Don’t mix

too much or you will waste your glue because it goes off quite

quickly. As soon as it becomes tacky, you must stop using it.)

By experience you will learn, but for a start, only mix up enough to

set about five pendants, if you’re doing bulk setting. If only one

stone, just mix up the equivalent of about two match heads.

6. Make sure your setting is not too smooth. If the gold is very

shiny, you should scratch it a little with a sharp instrument. If the

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stone is too smooth on the back, rough it up a little on the

sandpaper. This will prevent stones from becoming dislodged later,

particularly when you are relying totally on the strength of the glue,

as in the case of cementing bell caps.

7. Using the toothpick, place a drop of the glue in the middle of

each setting, perhaps scattering it around a little. Trial and error will

teach you not to put too much or too little glue in the setting,

otherwise it will come out the sides. It’s better to put a little more

than less, to make sure the setting is secure. If a little comes out the

sides, just wipe it away with a cloth, and clean the top of the stone

with metholated spirits before it dries. If some glue remains after it

dries, try scratching it off with your fingernail, or a sharp knife. But

take care with the knife or you will pull some of the opal away.

8. Sometimes the bezels (see jewelry definitions) on the cheaper

jewelry are slightly larger than the calibrated stone. In this case, the

stone has to be adjusted so that if there is a gap between the stone

and the edge of the bezel, it is equal right around the stone. In other

words, you have to center the stone, otherwise it will slip to the side,

and will have to be soaked overnight in metho (wood alcohol),

removed and reset.

9. If you are setting a finding with claws and no back, just put a little

glue at the base of each of the claws to keep the stone in place until

you close the claws down. By bending two of the claws on one end of

the setting, to the approximate shape of the stone, you can slip the

stone under the bent ends and wait for it to dry. It is then simple to

close the remaining claws. This method is very helpful for setting

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clusters of claw settings when it is difficult to get the setting pliers

into the innermost claws.

10. Many of the finding suppliers also supply jewelry boxes for the

varying types of settings. You can also find details for these in phone

books under the heading ‘Jewelry boxing’. If you don’t want to go to

this expense cut pieces of neat white cardboard to fit sealed top

plastic bags and use them as display packs.

You can use these either for pendants and brooches or for single

stones. In the case of unset stones, if you have a carat scale, you can

weigh them and show the carat weight neatly somewhere on the

white card.

Caution: Be careful when removing doublets and triplets from

settings using metholated spirits. If you leave them in too long, you

can release the cap on the top of the triplet because metho dissolves

epoxy resin, and some triplets are made from epoxy.

Try to have a little ventilation when using epoxies. As with all glues,

it’s best not to inhale them too much. Perhaps a small fan will help,

or just keep a window open, or at least work in an area that is not too

closed up.

Choice of Stones for Settings

If you want to turn your opal setting into a small business, you may

want to consider buying some of your stones from a dealer in

calibrated form, particularly if you are catering for the lower end of

the industry, selling to friends, at Swap Meets or Jewelry parties.

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Keep in mind that many people like the look of the black opal, but

obviously can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars. In this case,

triplets are the answer, and you can get a triplet price list and order

them at your leisure to the exact sizes you want. I can help you with

all sorts of calibrated stones if you need them.

And here is a good tip: An 18x13 bright triplet could cost in the

vicinity of $50 or more, but the same thing in a ‘mosaic’ triplet may

be around one third of that price. These stones are very interesting

to look at.

18x13 Mosaic Triplets

These are suggestions. It’s up to you to experiment and test your

market. Many people prefer the more delicate subdued color of the

white opal. These too are available as calibrated stones and you can

set them in cheap jewelry the same way as described above. They are

roughly the same price as the triplets in different grades.

Take a look here to see the different types of opal jewelry available

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CHAPTER 10. VALUING YOUR STONES The following is an outline that will help you value your stones. The

fact of the matter of course is that you be more accurate in assessing

the value of opal through experience than by technical advice.

For a start, it’s best to work with someone who has had a good

reputation over a long period of time. Generally speaking, it would

not be worth this person’s reputation to cheat you on prices. You

have to be careful, even in this case, but over the years I have found

that people who are in the business for a long time have a certain

honor that they try to maintain.

I am able to transfer many thousands of dollars worth of goods back

and forward between these people without so much as an insurance

policy. Having said that, the old adage still applies…”let the buyer

beware”.

Valuing opal is difficult because of the many factors, which must

be considered. It requires considerable experience and even then, it

is open to questioning by others who have a different market

demand, and after all, it is people’s personal preferences that

determine how much they are prepared to pay for any commodity.

Having said that, there is an basic criteria or accepted standard that

can be considered that involves the presentation of color and, in

addition, the perfection of the cut and polish, and the size of the a

cut stone.

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Body Color: Black or dark opal is in generally more valuable than

white or light opal, other things such as amount of color and

perfection of shape being equal.

Play of color: Several aspects are taken into consideration:

1. The extent or overall completeness of the play of color. The

stone should face well, that is there should be an even play of color

all over the stone with no dead patches of colorless or inferior opal.

2. The pattern of the stone must be impressive and flashy, not static

without activity.

3. The intensity or brilliance of the play of color.

The colors should be of maximum brightness and clarity, giving a

sharp appearance. They must not be just surface colors but must be

intriguing in that the eye is attracted to actually “look in” beyond the

surface and search for more intrigue.

The stone must have the contrasts similar to a rainbow. For the

ultimate value all colors of the spectrum should be present,

especially red as well as violet/purple, which is very rare.

A top Gem quality stone (expressed as A1 by some) must be free

from crazes or flaws have a nice dark background. (The blacker the

better) and have an excellent variety of color and brilliance. The

presence of Red makes it even more valuable but Gem quality stones

can be in any color. Harlequin is the most valuable and rare opal

pattern. Our cover stone (shown again below) is a good example of

this.

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Multi colored boulder opal from our Winton mine

Don’t get discouraged by the above comments. What is preferred in

opal color is largely a matter of personal choice. It’s true that price is

affected by perfection but the fact is that opal is a personality stone,

and what one person loves is not by another. I have shown large

parcels of opal to very rich people who have chosen pasty white opal

in preference to the high grade black.

Boulder opal picture and abstract stones are a classic example of how

relatively inexpensive pieces can be in such great demand. That’s the

uniqueness of opal. You don’t have to be a millionaire to enjoy

working with them because often the lower priced stones hold as

much if not more fascination than the expensive ones.

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The old Opal Miner’s Hut was just down the road from one of the

premier entertainment centers in Australia. Hence we constantly

had visitors from international people, keen to buy opal souvenirs.

Sammy Davis Jr. was an example of that. He just loved large white

stones and bought a heap from me during his visit to Tweed Heads.

Rolf Harris, the singer and writer of “tie me Kangaroo down sport”

loves boulder opal with all its unusual patterns. Stones that are not

necessarily so expensive. Neil Sadaka’s Soundman liked something

completely different, while Charlie Daniel’s’ whole band loved

everything and didn’t buy anything. (It was a bit of a rush behind the

stage after his show.. And the lighting was lousy.) The ‘Big River

Band’ nearly had their fuzzy hair, full of inflammable lacquer, set

alight under the heat of my showroom lights. We wondered what

the smell was. They didn’t buy anything either!

Valuing opal is not easy. Actually, apart from gold, which has a set

value that is announced each day, very few things are easy to value.

How does a real estate agent work out how much your house is

worth? Usually by finding out how much someone else’s house of

equivalent size and quality, sold recently in your street. The same

goes for opal values. It is often established by what people are willing

to pay for it. While it’s true that this value goes up and down in the

short term, over a period of time, the values keep climbing as you

can see by the following chart of comparisons in the ten years

between 1970 and 1980.

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One estimate of Opal Price increases

People have tried to establish constancy in valuations by controlling

markets, as is the case of the diamond market. Diamonds would not

be the value they are today, if they had all been released to the

public.

Through Cartels, by controlling the flow of rough, prices can be

maintained with more consistency. The danger in this of course is

that if another large quantity of diamonds are discovered and the

new owners don’t join the cartel, the price of the commodity could

suffer badly.

Admittedly this could be the case with any commodity including opal,

but the difference is that opal finds its price level according to supply

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and demand. Because this process is ongoing, what you pay for an

opal is more likely to reflect the actual price that someone is willing

to pay for it, and therefore, it should be pretty close to market value.

Obviously if a miner sells his stones to you at the best price, you must

have offered at least a little more than the previous dealer. In fact, a

miner will often tell you (whether this is correct or not) what offers

he has on the stone. And of course, a dealer can compare between

one parcel and another. Don’t be afraid to negotiate to get the best

price.

As already stated, how to actually know what a stone is worth is an

art best left up to the dealers who are buying and selling all the time.

As you cut more and more stones, and you get opinions from

various dealers, gradually you will work out your own system and get

a pretty good idea of prices.

With today’s communications system, you can browse lots of stones

on the www.opalmine site, and gain valuable experience. You can

leave questions on the chat forum here and communicate with me

directly by e-mail if you need some help.

This is roughly how opal values are worked out.

Please note: Size of stones has a big bearing on values. For example

you could buy a nice quality 7x5mm crystal for as little as $50 or less

per carat, whereas the same quality stone in an 18x13mm size could

be worth $150 per carat.

White opal: prices start at around $2 per carat, and go up to about

$20 per carat. Crystal opal: prices start at around $10 per carat and

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go up to around$200 or more per carat for exceptional pieces. But

there are many crystals in the $50 per carat vicinity.

Semi black (dark) opal can start at around $10 per carat and go up to

around$500 per carat for red on grey. There are many stones in this

category for around $100 to $200 per carat. As semi black gets

darker, it becomes a matter of opinion as to whether it is semi black

or black.

Black opals can start from around $50 per carat for blue on black

which is not so bright, (cheaper if the color is weaker) up to around

$100 to$200 if the blue is very bright on pitch black.

Blue-green stones start at around $100 per carat and can go up

to$1000 and more, particularly if they have a little yellow as well, in

which case they can go up to $1500 per carat and more.

Orange/green on black can start at around $500 per carat if the

pattern and color is not so good, and go up to $2500 per carat and

more for exceptional stones.

Red on black can start at around $1000 per carat, but if the color is

bright and the pattern sharp, they can go up to $5000 per carat and

more. Exceptional stones which combine all the spectrum colors in

sharp contrast can be nearly priceless, but many have sold from

$3000 to $5000 per carat. Some dull red on black or dark grey can

start a lot lower in price.

If some of these stones have, in the opinion of some rich miners, sold

cheaply to dealers, the miners will go to the dealers and buy them

back at much higher prices and just bury them in the ground. During

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the recent high demand for black opal, some big miners have

tried to control the market in this manner.

Efforts have been made to establish values by committees such as

the Lightning Ridge Opal Buyers Association. This only works to the

extent that individual miners and dealers cooperate in the selling

process. Unfortunately, because the opal industry is so fragmented,

with everyone being in various stages of financial need, the

temptation is always there to sell cheaply if the fuel has to be paid.

A lot more could be said about opal colors and patterns, but that

subject is best left to experts in that field. Suffice it to say that there

are patterns such as ‘straw’, ‘rolling flash’, ‘Chinese writing’, ‘Pinfire’,

etc. The most sought after and expensive pattern is called

‘Harlequin’. (Named after the squares on a clown’s costume.)

Dennis at the Winton mine

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Chapter 11. Selling Your Stones

How to Become an Opal Merchant

It must be said though, that some folks are just not good at being an

entrepreneur. They hate meeting people, and they hate selling.

They don’t like the concept of selling, yet they fail to realize that if it

had not been for high-pressure salespeople, hardly any of the

modern day achievements would have been made. People had to

be convinced to invest money in things by dynamic sales people.

If you are not this type of person, try to change, but if you cannot, it’s

best to just hide yourself in your workshop and just get satisfaction

out of your hobby. Who knows, if you give a few things away, you’ll

be happier for it. (Remember the old true-ism, “there’s more

happiness in giving than in receiving”)

The art of selling is a wonderful art to develop, and it can contribute

to the good of a person, if it helps that person to feel better and

enjoy life more. Selling things should not be confused with ‘conning’

people, or telling lies about things. Always tell the truth when selling.

If you have a nice item to sell, and it’s well priced, you can be proud

of it and you can be assured that those you sell to will recommend

you to others, and you will be richer for the effort.

Let’s face it. Most things we ‘can’t do without’ in the Western world

are not really necessary. For example, do we really need to have a

garden around our house, or a tablecloth on the table? Not really,

but many people have these things because it makes them and

others feel better.

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How about an opal ring? Is that really necessary? Of course not! But

it’s such a beautiful thing, to be admired by all, and it makes

everyone feel better, just looking at it! (Of course it may make some

people envious that they haven’t got it, but we can’t help it if they

have a problem with covetousness.)

Keeping the above in mind, if you really love the stone as I do, what

more pleasant thing could there be than recommending it to others.

The first time I laid my eyes on a piece of opal, I was totally

fascinated by it. It was easy to turn it into a business because I

instantly saw the potential in it. I had never seen anything before like

it. Rubies may be red, sapphires can be blue, green, yellow, white, or

parts of all these colors, but nothing could change between all these

colors so vividly as an opal.

Someone told me it was unlucky, and it was for me. “Unlucky” that I

didn’t’ buy 10 kilos of it back in 1972 at $500 per oz for high quality

crystal. Who could have predicted that red on black opal would get

to$1000 per carat? But this figure was achieved nearly 20 years ago.

Since then, prices up to $12 000 per carat have been paid.

And no doubt, energetic salesmen such as the Shermans and

Mark Tremonti who believed in the stone, and had endless battles

with Japanese customs getting it into the country and promoted it in

Japan and the US accomplished this. At this point in time (1996),

because of the weakness of the Japanese economy, and the

devastation of the earthquake in Kyoto near Osaka, the price has

come back a little. This is typical of mining towns like Lightning Ridge.

Boom and bust is the order of the day.

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Still, at this point in time, the world still hardly knows about opal.

The potential is nearly endless. So “luck” as it’s often called largely

depends on the effort and the initiative people put into things. If you

go around trusting luck in life and not working hard for things, the

adage might apply “what you believe, so you will receive.” Negativity

breeds negativity.

How do you Find Prospective Customers?

Of course a lot of this depends on you. When I first started, a friend

of mine offered me a parcel to sell on consignment. Now

admittedly, consignment is a handy way to get started if someone

trusts you, and you are short of money, but it’s always been my belief

that you will never get a really good deal with consignment goods.

No one is going to give you the best price unless you come up with

the cash. So I said to my friend: “Look, I’m sure I can sell those

stones. Just give me the best deal possible, and I’ll buy them from

you. I ended up closing the deal with him for around $600. ($200

discount)

Then I thought to myself: “Where am I going to sell them?”. I always

think backwards. In hindsight, I should have asked that question

before I bought them; but anyway, I had this warm feeling inside me

that if I loved the things so much, there must be a lot more people

out there like me.

No one told me at the time that Australians don’t know much about

their own gemstone, and hence they don’t realize the value of it.

They have succumbed to the “hard sell” of the De Bares organization

and Marilyn Monroe who insisted that “Diamonds are a girl’s best

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friend” (In fact, up until recently, they hardly bought anything

Australian, but they are learning)

Not knowing this, I proceeded to make a trip into the country with

my wife. We re-priced all the stones, put a healthy profit on them,

and called on all the Hotel Managers in every town for about 300

miles. At that point I didn’t even have a business card. I just called

into the pub, announced that I was an opal merchant, and asked if

they would like to see my stock.

We sold nearly everything on that trip, and that was the start of

Petren Products. (Peter and Renate Products) We started dealing in

triplets and cheap jewelry, and I would sell Renate’s oil paintings

from door to door. My sister Malvie was a great help. She was, and

still is an excellent salesperson, and dragged us out of many a

financial predicament, by holding jewelry parties and selling to

anyone she would come in contact with.

From these early beginnings, I had to get a little more organized. We

had business cards printed and I started making trips to capital cities,

and calling on all jewelers that sold opal, mainly to the tourist

market. Later, in 1977, we opened up a retail store called ‘The Opal

Miners Hut’. My sister Malvie, her son Peter, and Nick Kustic (a

faithful employee), now own and still run that shop which is a

landmark in the Southern Gold Coast (Tweed Heads) area.

In the past few years, I have travelled with opal to a number of

countries including: China, England, Europe, Holland, Hong Kong,

Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, U.S.A, etc. I have displayed

at the world famous Tucson, Arizona Gem Show. Other gem shows

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have been at the Hyatt Hotel, Tokyo, for the internationally known

Mineral and Fossil Show, as well as shows in Hong Kong and other

parts of Tokyo.

Presently I am concentrating on wholesale and export, and the Opal

Miners Hut is now listed on the Internet at:

http://www.opalmine.com. Shortly, after this material is complete, I

will be making it available on the Internet, along with some rough

opal for practice. But where and how can you sell opals? The

answer is, practically anywhere, but first I will tell you how I would go

about it today, and then I’ll give you some examples of how others

have done it. But where and how can

You sell opals? The answer is, practically anywhere, but first I will tell

you how I would go about it today, and then I’ll give you some

examples of how others have done it.

1. Get some business cards printed. Nothing too extravagant looking.

Just plain cards stating your name, address, phone and fax contacts if

you have a fax, and of course, now, E-mail.

2. These new gadgets are very handy for international dealing, so if

you don’t have a fax, try to get someone on side who will take

messages. It’s difficult ringing someone up on the other side of the

world if it’s 3am, and letters are too slow, but a fax can be picked up

the next morning.) Even better than a fax is e-mail because it is very

cheap, and please check www.skype.com for the best type of

communication where you can leave a message call a person skype

to skype for free or skype to phone very cheap.

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3. Then you can create your own web page. E-mail me if you want

some help with this ([email protected])so it is a good idea to

become at least computer literate, although not absolutely

necessary. I would recommend WORD PRESS blog as a format. Very

simple and you can update it yourself.

4. Procure a telephone book (yellow or pink pages) for your major

business areas, and find the section that says ‘Jewelers’,’ Jewels

wholesale ‘,’ Lapidarists, Manufacturing Jewelers’ or ‘Jewelry

Designers’ for a start. You can develop this further into the antique

jewelry sites and numerous other businesses. Make a few phone calls

to these businesses and ask to speak to the manager or jewelry

buyer. If you have access to Google or another browser, just bring up

yellow or pink pages and bookmark them for reference. Of course

you can just search Google direct for people in your area, or for that

matter, anywhere on the planet.

5. Another method, (which I personally prefer) is to just walk from

one jewelry store to another, particularly in the high rise offices.

(Many manufacturing jewelers are all together in one skyscraper,

such as in Hill St., LA, California, USA or 250 Pit St., Sydney, Australia)

6. Using this method, you don’t go necessarily expecting to make a

sale (although it sometimes surprises you). You merely apologize for

coming uninvited and ask them if you can exchange business cards

with the store buyer, if possible, saying a quick hello to the buyer.

This way, you are accomplishing three very important sales

assignments:

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a) You show that you’re a polite, considerate person who takes into

consideration peoples circumstances. Have consideration for people

who own shops. Having been a shopkeeper myself, I know what it’s

like to have to pay the weekly rent and wages and have no one come

into the shop but enthusiastic and often, ill mannered sales people.

b) You have at least shown your face, if not your stock, which means

that you are no longer a complete stranger.

c) You know the name and phone number, if not the face of the

person in charge of buying, so that when you either call in or make an

appointment, you can say, “Can I speak to Mr ******, or

******?” Or whatever term you might use, depending on your first

conversation with this person.

d) In ringing for an appointment, you might say something like:

“Hello, sorry to interrupt your busy day. My name is ******, I left

my business card with Mr/Mrs. ****** about three weeks ago, and if

possible, would like to make an appointment to show him/her my

opal stock. Is that convenient?”

Most successful business people are polite and considerate, that’s

how most of them got their job, unless they were born with money,

or are dishonest and an ignorant type. Life is too short to waste time

with people like that so if you meet them just thank them politely

and move one. There are plenty of nice people out there so just

concentrate on them. The idea is to sell yourself first before trying to

sell your products.

In making appointments keep all your calls in one area, work to a

system. Otherwise you’ll find you’re running all over the city wasting

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money on taxies and getting nowhere. Of course this is not always

possible if you have a customer who just can’t fit in with your

program. Be sure to be on time for appointments. This can be

difficult particularly if you develop a good connection with your

client. Allow an hour between each appointment to give you some

leeway.

Don’t try to accomplish too much at once. A mobile phone is handy

for this because, if you are running a little late, you can call your next

appointment and ask if you can put the appointment off for a little

while. Often this fits in with your customer anyway as business

people are often running late.

Whatever you do, don’t be offended or insulted by any criticism of

stock or accusations that you are too hard to deal with. Always be

good- natured and if possible have a little joke with them. (If they’re

the types that can’t take a joke, be careful of this.)

On the subject of stock criticism. Many buyers use this method to

get your stock at a cheap price. They will tell you that they think you

are too expensive and that someone also came into the office

recently and offered them stock at half the price.

What they say may or may not be true, but never be unnerved by

this. You might just say, “Well, you certainly did well on that deal. I

wish I could have bought it at that price. Anyway, (as you start

packing up your stock) thanks for having a look at my stones. Maybe

I’ll have something more suitable next time.” This is a good test

about their genuineness. If they are telling untruths, and really want

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your stock, you will find they will change the subject and ask to see

your stones again....”Just in case they’ve missed something.”

It’s all a game - this selling business. Opal selling can be the most

interesting of the games. After you get the hang of wheeling and

dealing, it is exciting and profitable, and you can make many business

friends. Of course as you start out, you won’t know the answers to

all the questions. If you don’t, just admit it and tell them you are just

starting out.

One jeweler recently told one of my customers that the stone I had

sold her was not a solid opal, but a doublet. (He came to this

conclusion because there was a straight line along the edge of the

stone that looked as though something had been ‘stuck’ on the

back.) He could be forgiven for not recognizing this, as only trained

opal cutters are experienced with this detail.

If he had really known his opal he would have immediately

recognized it as a boulder opal with color on the front and natural

brown ironstone back. Sometimes the natural line that joins the

opal to the ironstone is very straight and can be mistaken for a

doublet. But if he had looked under the magnifying glass, he would

have picked it up. Mistakes like this are easily made and only

experience and the aid of books like this will correct them.

Regrettably this is a problem that will not go away easily with opals,

as there are not enough of them in the world for all jewelers to get to

know. Unlike diamonds, which all look pretty much the same except

for slight variations in color, clarity and inclusions, opals are all

different. Keeping this in mind, it’s always good to inform a customer

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(particularly a retail customer) of this ignorance, in case a jeweler

disappoints them.

Another thing to keep in mind along the same line is that some

jewelers are a little peeved that you did not buy the stone from

them, and develop the ‘sour grape’ syndrome, particularly if you

have been a faithful customer of theirs for many years. This

happened to me in Germany when I sold some beautiful opal triplets

at wholesale to a friend that I stayed with. She took the stones along

to the family jeweler, who valued them at a fraction of the wholesale

price. You can imagine how we all felt after that.

Taking the above into consideration, if you are doing any retail selling

(and this is quite a good idea if you try my method of just calling on

business people who are not jewelers), it’s a good idea to develop a

close relationship with a jeweler who knows about opal. (Or if he

does not, lend him this book and teach him.) By doing this you can

arrange to have this jeweler do all your setting work at a trade price,

and if you are selling retail, double your money on your investment.

Other Methods

Some dealers have built up a business by buying a parcel of opal at

wholesale and put on a small opal show in their hometown. An

advertisement in the paper could state: “New Stock from Opal Miner

in Australia. Selected gems to be sold direct to the public”.

Depending on the security situation in your town, it may be

necessary to hire some security guards. If you are worried about this,

you may want to just show a phone number and ask for a reference

from a local businessman if there is some reason for concern.

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Then there are markets, swap meets, and your own retail store. The

problem with markets is always correct lighting. If the sun is shining,

that’s fine, but it can be too hot. If cloudy, the color of the stone will

not come out as well. You just have to do a compromise between an

umbrella and the sun. Unless you have some 12v lighting systems

you can fit. Of course if you are inside a building this is usually

provided. But remember, you need incandescent, not fluorescent

lights.

Setting up a shop is a different ball game, and unless you experienced

you’d better stick to just wholesaling selling direct to the public by

some sort of party plan letting your friends know what you are doing.

Many who prefer to buy gifts from you than from a retail store. And

now of course, there is the Internet. This is the ultimate selling tool

for the little home based business. You have your store right on your

desktop. If you decide to go this way, get in touch by e-mail and

we will try to give you some guidelines. The reason I have been so

successful in marketing opal online is because of my credibility.

You will notice at www.opalmine.com, that there is a whole page

devoted to comments from my customers. These are only a few of

the actual emails from real people who have agreed to communicate

with you if you want to inquire. On top of that I have a visitor’s

book full of signatures of customers I have dealt with over a 20 year

period. Nearly 8000 in all. This sort of credibility is not easy to come

by, but you have to start somewhere and if you can begin to build

your own file of happy customers, it won’t be long before people will

be happy to deal with you.

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Reportedly, many have had good results using this method, but of

course you have to try these things out, and there is no reason why it

will not pay off. One thing good about dealing in opal internationally

is that it’s just a tiny thing to carry. Tens of thousands of dollars

worth of it can be put in your pocket. Just try dealing in $10, 000

worth of chairs, tables or antique vases. Then you really know what

trouble is!

Security

When you are walking around in the big city, it’s best not to look too

much like a “well to do businessman”. You can be neat and tidy, but

there’s no need to take along a slick looking briefcase. It may give a

better impression to the shop owners, but it could also get you into a

lot of trouble. Just carry a modest carry bag that looks as though

you are just going shopping, and keep a few docket books and

necessities in that, in case it gets stolen. Keep your stock in the

inside pocket of your jacket or somewhere else out of sight. The bag

is just a decoy.

Always carry a few dollars in an old case you are mugged, and keep

all your documents including credit cards and amounts of money in a

wallet hanging your neck inside your shirt. The few dollars in the old

wallet should keep thieves happy and your important goods safe.

Preparation of Stock

Some opal dealers go overboard in the presentation of stock. They

buy all sorts of fancy boxes and special tags and things that make

displays bulky. This is not necessary. In fact in my experience the

less elaborate the display, the more professional you appear. Buyers

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like to think that they are getting stones from as close to the miner as

possible and the more you look like a rep the more they think you

have loaded your prices.

All you need is nice clean seal top plastic gem bags. Get good quality

cellophane type ones that don’t wear too quickly. You must change

the bags on regular occasions if they are becoming too tattered and

scratched. Use plain white rectangle stickers available from the

stationary stores and stick these at the corner of the bag. (About

20mm by 15mm is a good size.) Make sure you take extra bags and

stickers with you in case you need to rearrange the stock as a result

of sales.

Some reps don’t like having the total number of stones shown on the

bag sticker because if some stones have sold the customer will notice

that what is left is maybe the rejects of the previous customer. So

just keep your stone totals on a separate list.

You can put the carat weight of the stone on the sticker. (If you are

weighing it.) It’s also a good idea to have a bag number, so you can

make a list in a notebook and mark them off as they sell. Also, if you

leave anything on consignment, you can number what you have left

and keep a record of it.

Keep in mind

1. You may want to discount the stone sometime during the day if

you want to clear some stock.

2. You may have a bag of stones to sell for a set price, and someone

has just bought a few stones out of the bag. This may have an effect

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on the original price. Having it in pencil means that you can adjust it

without changing the whole sticker or bag. Otherwise just use a new

sticker and change the details.

Speaking of parcels of opal, you may have ten stones for a certain

price. Some good, some not so good. A buyer may want some of the

stones, but not all. For this reason it’s a good idea to decide

beforehand the price if the customer takes all the stones or just a

few. You could have (for example) a bunch of stones for $20 each if

they take the lot, but $40 if they select the better ones.

Conclusion

To conclude, please enjoy this gallery of picture stones from

our collection. There is not enough room to show them all but

I know you will enjoy the ones we are presenting

Gallery of Picture Opals

Four of these picture stones namely, “Pair of Sheep”, the “Prawn” or

“Shrimp” the “Flying Kangaroo” and the “Praying Mantis”, have

never been seen by the public before. These four Picture stones were

first published on pages 6 & 7 of Len Cram’s famous book. “Beautiful

Yowah” but since have been republished on pages 92, 93 in a later

(as at January 1999) and most exquisite book “A Journey with colour”

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‘Flame in the Valley’

Take a look here to see the Picture Stone Gallery

Collected over a period of nearly 50 years

For more information about this collection and a wonderful

variety of rough, polished and set opal.

Go to

www.opalmine.com

or leave your details here:

http://opalmine.com/contact-us/