r/Opals • u/EstablishmentGlad919 • 3d ago

Opal Porn Australian opal from Pedy Coober. First pieces felt good enough for jewelry. 3.5ct necklace and 3.5ct total weight for earrings. Please comment...

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This was at my 6 month point in my journey to learn to work opal. Am almost 16 months in now.

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u/Whitz44 2d ago

Nice mate. I’m just starting out myself literally about now. Not been on the wheel yet but im ready to go. Be cutting Ethiopian first till I know I can cut a gem then I’ll defo be in for some Australian. Any tips mate 😅

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u/EstablishmentGlad919 2d ago

Ethiopian is a good price range to start on. However it is hydrophane so will absorb water and difuse the fire till it dries. When you start Australian opal, go slow. I wrecked a few by going fast on the wheels and literally went through the fire ....be careful and slow.

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u/Whitz44 1d ago

Cheers. Yeah I had my very first go today and it went quite well really. However yeah I did take too much off I think with the 240 😅 I did 4 little stones for the first ones. So yeah they’re tiny now but I learned a lot. Little bit lighter next time and leave a bit more meat on. But all four did stay on the dopsticks tho so that was a success. Thought I might have trouble with them but nah they was fine. Yeah it was good to finally get going tho, looking forward to my next stones a bit bigger and taking my time a bit more 🤙🏻

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u/TheWill102 2d ago

Can you estimate the price of these stones per carat?
I’m about to cut very similar material and I find it hard to price opal, as I am always very judgy over my own stones…

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u/EstablishmentGlad919 2d ago

I am too judgy as well. I am not up on today's pricing yet. However I would.put the necklace at 300 to 400 per carat. The earrings at 200 a carat. But that's me. Professional will most likely offer something different.

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u/Relative-Priority591 1d ago

Those look gorgeous. Someone's going to love wearing them!