Opal

[Eu_citzen]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a weakness for opals?

I for one do, I perfer to cut and fix my opals myself; some examples of my work below.
One of them was set in 925 Silver by a friend. (silver heart)
One of them is for sale on opal auctions. ("Blue heart")

Some examples of my work:

 

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[Mackaydon]

I believe fire opals are also found in Arizona.
Here on the left coast we have 'Opal Mountain' just north of the town of Hinkley, which is just west of Barstow. Unfortunately, there are no fire opals to be found there though opals of other solid colors have been collected there for years by rock hounds.
Don.......

 

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[centfladigger]

am beginning to love opals myself. I have a friend here near me in Fl that owns a BO mine in Koroit Opal fields in Australia, its near Cunnamulla or somewhere near there. I traded him a large amount of my coral for some of this, some of these killer pieces are his to show me what it looks like.I have made a few cabs so far and here they are. My shop looks like I have been mud slinging

 

[centfladigger]

the reefs I dig on arent on any charts or waterway, they are on land, I dig these from a freinds property in a county that was a huge coral reef bed when Fl was under water, these are silicified. I`m a 5th generation Floridian and know where alot of different spots for rocks are . Could care less about the reefs out in the ocean, its way too crowded out there for me.
I find alot of coral in the rivers also, beautiful stuff.
Heres my coral , polyped and pinhead

 

[centfladigger]

yes, click on website under my avatar

 

[Eu_citzen]

Love the BO!

 

[centfladigger]

your opal looks good, I`m having a heck of a time working that small stuff. Alot of the opal on the BO is small or I find a layer of that hematite on top and takes for ever to grind down to that thin layer of it.

 

[Eu_citzen]

I actually was taught cutting small pieces, so I have little problem with those.

 

[coinshooter]

Here's a pic of some nice synthetic Gilson opal I found at a swap meet for $0.50!
I cut it and put it into a ring I made.

 

[marinedad]

looks good.

 

[Eu_citzen]

I don't know.. I never quite liked Gilson opal, it looks to unnatural to me...

 

[flytye22]

Shortstack,
Fire does refer to the display of colour.
However fire opal does refer to a reddish to orange body tone. Google it.
Fire opal mainly comes from Ethopia, Mexico and a few other places.

That's the experience I have while studying gemmology.

Just to let you know they are also found in Nevada as well. Do a search for Royal Peacock mine. Its close to Orvada Nevada

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yes, and Oregon to. (Juniper Ridge)
Since I'm not in the states I focused on the "largest" suppliers of opal at the moment. Although Mexico is slowing down quite a bit.