I spent $30,000 on this rough parcel of opal and this was the only stone that
was in the parcel.
G'day and welcome to Black Opal Direct, my name's Justin
HI, I'm Melinda. Welcome to Black Opal Direct!
No, that's my line!
Well you're not doing a very good job so move over!
It's my show... Oh crap
Here's your cup of tea Thank you
Well sorry about that guys that was Melinda's idea
That was not my idea that was yours!
Well please give Melinda a warm welcome
She's new to the team and we're gonna be seeing a lot more of her and
she's got a lot more talent than just putting me in my place
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so today we're going to talk about a few of my collection stones
that I've kept for many years and some of them has some really cool stories to
them so Melinda's gonna ask me a few questions about them and I'm gonna let
you know because I love opal so much that I've kept some for many years and
there's some really nice fine stories behind them and that's what becomes
heirlooms is something that has a lot of history to it and that's what I'm trying
to create with my family and my son for the future
Okay let's start with this one
Where did you get this one from?
This one is probably one of my two top most cherished stones
This one was in my Dad's collection 40 years ago and I
always had my eye on it because it's one of the best crystal opals I've ever seen
it's so clear and it's double-sided and the pattern just reminds me of my Dad
you know every time I was little and I would say Dad can you get your
collection out and I look at it I'd always pick this stone up and it was
just so precious to me that even today when he's now passed away I look at it
and I see him every single time and it's so precious I will never sell this one
ever ever ever
That's beautiful. Where does this one come from?
Well this one is one of my biggest learning curves in life. When I was working for my Dad he
was an opal cutter back in the early days and we were buying parcels of opal
and my Dad said, and I think I was about 20, he said I think
it's time for you to go to Lightning Ridge by yourself and buy your first parcel of
opal and so I went up there and I saw some opal miners and they had a big tray
of opal rough opal sitting there and this piece was glinting out of out of
one of the pieces of rough opal and I thought there's enough money in there
it's got to be great and I spent $30,000 on this rough parcel of opal and this
was the only stone that was in the parcel so I was a bit I was a bit upset
but I did also decide because it's one of the most top crystals I've ever found
I decided to keep it to remind me of that that very time and it is one of the
biggest learning curves I could have ever gone through so I do cherish
this stone too so I will be keeping this one and handing it to my son later on in life
What did your Dad say?
He shook his head, he shook his head and he said that's how you learn
That's a very expensive lesson
It is an expensive lesson but I think everybody who takes a risk in life
you always make mistakes and you don't learn until you make those mistakes
Yeah, until you make the really big ones. The doozies.
That's a precious one to me now
This is my favorite so far, tell me about this one
Well this one came out of the same pocket in a field called The Three Mile Field up
in a lightning region now this one is also 40 years old and was in my Dad's
collection too and it is probably the most red and brightest
crystal I've ever owned so my Dad let me put it in a pinky ring it's a little bit
tight on me nowadays but I still are cherishes how much and it sits right
alongside that gorgeous crystal opal that my Dad had in his collection he
also had black opals in his collection but I'm a I'm a bit partial to crystals
because they just have so much depth it's crazy especially when you get them
double sided the 3D I have a thing about 3D
patterning and I've mentioned it a lot in my in my videos but it really means a
lot to me and I just love to see color on color it's the best
And what about this one?
Well this one is quite special
and it's probably the most recent to my collection this some I have
named the stone Riverview because I used to get supply of opal from a man called
Dave and Dave was a very good friend and as we decided to, he got unfortunately
got cancer, and as we decided to make a deal on this last parcel of opal he died
in the process and I managed to still be able to pay him for them for the parcel
and we we did business but unfortunately Dave has gone and I had a cheers
for Dave when I went barramundi fishing up the top end in Darwin and I
miss him greatly he's a great guy and so I've named this stone and I'm
keeping this in my collection and it's called Riverview where he lived.
It's so cool that all of the different stones signify a person
Yes that's exactly right
Let's get one of the darker ones, is this a black opal?
That is definitely, well this one was it was probably about seven
years ago it was shown to me in a rough piece and there is a video on
youtube of me cutting this stone and I didn't expect it to be as bright and as
strong as this and the reason why I kept this stone is because in black opal my
favorite colors are blue and green and when they are this bright because I love
fishing, I love the ocean, I love the forest, I love everything about those
colors are part of my life so I had to keep this thing because it's just so
strong and if I ever get another ring made that will be the choice
A boss ring
let's go into another one, does this one mean anything to you?
Actually this one probably means the least in the lot but it's just
because the green in it was so unique and the darkness is so unique and it's
got a high dome to it really nice cut I decided to just to keep it out because
sometimes you just find stones that just speak to you and this one
definitely spoke to me and every time I look at it I just think wow how
different that is from every other stone so I am inclined to keep that one
I might sell it later down in the track but yeah I just love it
because it's just different, really different
And seeing so many stones across the years, when something calls out to you, you have to hold onto it.
Well my wife actually had happened to her, she saw a boulder opal not a black
opal but a boulder once upon a time and she really wanted to buy it but then
decided not to and for the last 15 years she's brought up that boulder opal
saying that she missed out and that was the one that she really wanted and it
spoke to her say if you if you ever do have an opal that actually speaks to you
do your best to to snap it up if you can afford it because they don't come along
very often when you get a stone that really, really, really grabs you by the heart
Are there any ones like that for you, any ones that got away?
There is many. Yeah, I couldn't really pinpoint one but yeah there is many over
the years that I actually couldn't afford yeah didn't have the money to
just go here you go I'll take that yeah because some of the better gems are just
so sublime but they they fetch quite high prices and my collection is
something that I've built up over the years and there is quite a lot of value
to it and it is I guess also to me it's like a separate superannuation fund I
slowly build on it and I like to see those things grow and so there is some
value there and hopefully I won't be selling them all when I decide I'm
retiring and that's not for a long time so don't worry
Yeah I only just started!
I'm sorry I'm leaving I'm going on a world trip, you have to look after the place.
Well, yeah, I'm staying here.
Well, I reckon that's enough. If you actually like what we're doing and talking about
stones a little bit more history about the opal we can go through the stock as
well that's online and I can talk about where these opals come from in Lightning Ridge
If you like this kind of thing let us know in the comments that would be really cool.
It's always nice to have the emotional connection or the story behind the stones
I think that makes it mean a lot more.
Yep and it does. Whenever somebody sends me a picture of their opal that's come from
their family they usually tell me a story - and that's so they
always have some kind of a story and we cut the stone and we make it beautiful
but the real story comes from when that stone is sold and gone to another family
and then it goes through generations that's when the real story starts
Also if you have any burning questions that you want to know you let us know because
we can also make a video because I can guarantee your question there's
thousands of other people asking the same question too, so let us know in the
comments or send us a private message whichever way you'd like to do it and
make sure you subscribe it really it really is appreciated
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!
That's my line!