this one's going to be a challenge
g'day and welcome to black opal direct my name is justin well today we've got something
really really special this is a 25 carat rub opal rub so it hasn't been polished yet now
and it has the potential to make a 50 000 stone because it has so much beautiful color in there
and it has a few problems about it and i'm really concerned about the back because there's one
little fracture in the back that needs to come out but on the top of the stone we have a very very
thin couple of color bars and there is a amazing color bar that is right on the pot and it's got
the best color and the best pattern but sitting just on top over the top of the the center of it
is a pin fire pattern and that pin fire pattern is nowhere near as valuable as the pattern below
so i would like to be able to cut that pin fire pattern off but it is such a big risk
and the reason why it's a risk is there is black spots and you can see them here in the stone
in certain areas there's black spots that possibly go all the way down to the
pot so the further i grind this down the more chance that blows black blotches will come out
into the stone and it is going to be have to be a very very delicate juggling act trying to
keep a little bit of that pin fire on the top and have that beautiful color come through without
the black spots actually showing up more and making the stone look blotchy because
if it's blotchy it's not going to be worth nearly as much as a clean nicely cut stone so
i think what i'm going to first first do is i am going to put it on the dot stick and cut it
and cut it as it is so i don't want to take too much off i'll work a little bit around the edges
and that's about it and see how it looks so if it looks really nice as it is i will leave it
and we'll have a beautiful gem if those black spots come out and start showing up quite badly
i'm gonna have to chop the stone up and that i know that sounds like sacrilege
but i will get more value per carrot with a clean stone or several clean stones out of this
rather than one big stone with inclusions in it and it's the same for diamonds you can have a
clean diamond or you can have a diamond with inclusions and the
diamond that's clean is usually the most valuable or every time so this is going to be a challenge
that is magnificent flagstone pattern around the edges where the second color bar is exposed so
we're going to work on this baby and try and cut to precision because this is this
is not just an everyday cut this is a very very expensive gem that could go wrong it
really could go wrong and um there's there's a difference between thirty thousand dollars here
if if it goes right fantastic if it goes not so good we're losing a lot of money so
here's the challenge let's get into it i'll find a large dobstick to fit that stain on
before i go i might actually see if i can get more of that crack out of the back if
the crack comes out of the back a bit easier or a bit more then then i know that there's more
chance of a bigger stone let's get onto the wheel and see if that crack comes out first
oh that was super lucky because now that crack i know it's still there still just
there while i'm trying to take this crack out i am losing carrots on the back of this stone
and every single carrot counts on a gem like this so it's making me very nervous
the crack is now out fantastic so this isn't the crack here the crack was in this lighter
that lighter potch right there so i've got it out now
which is great news and then there's that just that so i can put the water on now readjust this
some water on and get that nice and even
so
so all right so that's probably enough and we can put it on the dobstick now
there we go we're ready ready to go
so
so pretty much all of that pin fire pattern is now out of the stone which is really good news
but there is some cloud from some uh residual potch from the last color bar still on the top
and it really needs to come out
so by me doing that i'm making this stone very very flat but i think still
it's going to be worthwhile if it comes out nice and clean i hope it cleans up
oh i need a break this is getting too stressful
it's so good when your hunch or educated guess is going to pay off it's just a little reminder that
yes you are good at what you do and i do like to be humble in my profession and let my hands
and experience show the path it's nice to know that when it counts my hands don't let me down
so
i have to explain something to you
before i cut this stone i was actually had to call up a few miners from the field that
this stone comes from um to talk about the black spots in the in the stone um they said
that there's a good chance that those black spots are going to come out like come up from
from the bottom up so that i was going to lose color and they said don't risk it to take it
down because you are going to make you're going to have to cut it slice it into smaller stones
i took a punt and it was a real punt that they would come out and they have
and i can't believe it it has changed the stone so much now i've got i think around about 18 to
20 carat stone maybe a little bit less i'm not sure but i'm so so happy with this so i'm gonna
polish it up which is my most favorite part to see that nice shine at the end and um and then
we'll give it away and a price oh my goodness i've got butterflies this is so good come on
because this is a very expensive gem i'm going to put extra cereal oxide
into the tray to get an extra extra fine folic polish
you know there's only a few gems in life that really stick in your mind forever and this is
definitely one of those gems it's the kind that i wish my father was around to see but i'm sure
that he's looking over from above with a really big smile and you know what's even better is that
i get to share the journey with you because most people who cut a gem like this will be in a room
by themselves concentrating really hard without cameras this is one gem to definitely remember
i am so excited about this stain you have no idea so because it's on the wax and normally i just get
this knife here and i'll break it off with the wax but because it's such an expensive stone i'm
going to go and put it in the freezer so that that wax becomes really brittle because i don't want to
compromise this stone in any way i can't wait i can't believe i'm gonna fight
right now i'm feeling like the luckiest cutter on the planet i am so happy you have no idea how
happy i am this stone was supposed to not cut such a big gem it was supposed to make the black was
supposed to come out everybody said that the black would come up from the bottom and make this stone
blotchy and i'd have to slice it up into smaller stones and be
nowhere near as happy and it just did the opposite absolute opposite and i am so so
so happy i can't tell you how happy i am this is gorgeous i just weighed it it weighs 16.80 carats
times 5 000 a carrot you do the math i'm so so so happy this is a crazy crazy gem
and i think it's worth a dance
it's
change you