Has anyone ever seen a Harlequin pattern, a Flagstone pattern and a Chinese writing pattern with at least 7 colors in one single carat stone, N6 base, brightness level 5/5, aquamarines, blues, purples, pinks, reds, yellows,oranges.and a couple of other colors I can’t name. Am I dreaming or have I found a unicorn?
Darren,
What is the stone source? White ,Black or Grey Base? All of these come into play with regard to your question.
Is an n6 grey base
With opal anything is possible, it would be Australian opal?
Lightning ridge, n6 gray base, brightness off the charts, excellent saturation but it doesn’t matter now my dumbass broke it in half. I’m thinking $10,000 mistake. Gluing it back together and putting it in a ring for myself. It will still be gorgeous and it will remind me to every day to be more careful with my stones.
hi photo can you show
In my price guide, gray base does not go over $900/ct, so perhaps the mistake is not as costly as you thought. As far as harlequin, flagstone, etc., I would think that these are large patterns which wouldn’t fit into a 1 ct stone. I would describe the fire in a 1 ct stone as pinfire, I think. But I am not an opal expert, so I would consult the books that have been written on that…there are a few, with pictures, as I remember. I’ve never broken an opal, but I did crack one years ago by going too fast in cutting it. Never again! One trial learning! Since then I have used a machine that was geared down to a slow speed and that worked well. It’s either that or a very light touch. Touch the opal to your upper lip to feel for whether it is getting hot. -royjohn
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The patterns appear from 3 different angles and according to the price guide I’m looking at an n6 opal can go for up to $8,000 a carat. A 3 pattern stone wish rare enough to kick it I to collectors item status thereby further raising the price. And I already have another stone with a Harlequin pattern and a stone with a Flagstone. I’ve definitely done the research. Unfortunately I snapped the stone right in the center of the flagstone and Chinese writing patterns so I only have a 1/2 carat Harlequin left to show for it. I’m likely going to glue it back together and put it in a ring for myself. It won’t have the value but to the naked eye it will still be an amazing conversation piece.
Can you post a picture? Even repaired your unicorn may have some serious value. Opals are stabilized all of the time. As long as the stone is NOT altered from its original state it should not hurt the value to the point of making it worthless. Opals, turquoise and emeralds are treated all of the time now. Seems that finding any stones these days that are NOT treated in some way is part of the fun.
To you it will be priceless!
All the best in the repair.
Otter
Thanks, I’ll try to post a picture once I finish the repair but my camera and lighting are well short of doing the job properly. Right now I’m waiting for the epoxy to cure fully before finishing the repair.
Simple answer is yes I have. Lightening Ridge In Australia it has been found
One of the videos on YouTube.
No amount of youtube big buck hype by this tuber changes the fact that this is a relatively small opal cab with some weird yellow inclusions => cheap. I thought the tuber was giving it away as a prize to hamster a bunch of “subscribes” or “likes”? Did he give it away or did he hype himself into keeping it instead? Who knows. Nobody probably cares. Conversely, there are numerous Australian tubers who are totally cool and down to earth - and sell some valuable opals at great prices. Here’s an example of one of my favorite opal workers working a tricky, low-end piece:
I absolute love this guy! You know he has been the bug more times than he has been the bug. Heaven knows I have. He makes cutting opal look so easy and almost every opal cut come out as a perfect winner.
Oh how I wish it did happen that way!
All the best in the fun frustrating world of opals.
Otter
Have you had a look on opal auctions? Riley Gunn aka opal legend and guru suggests finding all opals with your opal shade pattern etc, add all of the carats up divided by cost of all of the gems divided by the number of gems you included to get an average price per carat. Lots of opal sites including Roys rocks, opalholics… speak to Riley or Jarrad Giles or Gary Davies. They’re the folks to go to x
Ps i have opal fever too. I cut, polish and set my own and love my opal community. There’s some dodgy folks out there but most are great! Luckily I’ve been part of the whole aus opal scene since 2016 x
I just started a few months ago, I have about 20 finished stones worthy of setting so far, I won’t fire up the casting set up until I have enough stones to cast a full collection. I’m definitely taking this commercial. Opals are my favorite but I will likely branch out into other stones as well as getting my GIA certification. Took me until I was 61 but I found my calling.
I’m in for a couple thousand bucks with that site so far with raw opal purchases. Definitely a learning curve to it. I’m getting there.
I was told when I was just starting out as a teenager cutting opals, some days you are the windshield and others you are the bug. I found that cutting opal can be the best day of your life and the worst. You just know you have that perfect stone and all of a sudden it shatters when you are polishing it. Ugh! You know you did everything just right and were so careful. Well that is just part of it. Yes, you will have a boatload of money in your rough but just one stone can make up for all that you have put into it. Don’t get discouraged and have fun. You will have your windshield days.
All the best in your opal cutting.
Otter
Some days you eat the bear. Some days the bear eats you. I am definitely coming out ahead so far on my expenditures vs yields.
GOSTARIA DE VER ESSA OPALA , TRABALHAMOS COM OPALAS. #opala=primebrazil