Some boulder opal in progress

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Joined
May 7, 2014
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Location
Scarborough, QLD
Soooo, as I got bored with calibrated ovals quite quickly, I have been free forming most of my stones for a while now. Today I thought it would be an idea to finally bring my bits of boulder opal to the club and have a go at the opal machine.

I am honestly quite proud of myself, they came out so shiny already!
I still have to do the backs, and on the close up shots I can see I have some cleanup to do as well.

1414039035_resized_boulder_opal.jpg

1414039598_resized_boulder_opal_3.jpg
 
Man, those are sweet! :)

Have a bit of boulder opal from grandad's old collection. Dad tells me to take it and cab it, I'm a bit wary of stuffing it up.

It doesn't seem to have a great deal of colour play, it's mostly just a vivid blue.
 
Doing a top job there Piep, looks to me they could be Yowah nuts or maybe Koroit?

With an electroformed band around they will make very attractive pendants, too good to put a hole through and a leather thong.
mike
 
Thanks all! I had to hand finish them, as the wheels kept pulling deep gouges in the top. SO handfinished up to 3000grit sandpaper and then onto tin oxide on leather:
1414899600_boulder_jelly_zoom.jpg


The crease in the top has been finished on 7000grit sandpaper and is as shiny and lustrous as the rest.
 
Thanks Bigjilm, I'm quite happy with the results myself. The effort has certainly been worth it as it sold the moment I posted it in a facebook group.
 
I think Bigjilm would like an invite into that facebook group Piep.(looks like that would get you a future sale).
Piep said:
Thanks Bigjilm, I'm quite happy with the results myself. The effort has certainly been worth it as it sold the moment I posted it in a facebook group.
 
Piep said:
Thanks Bigjilm, I'm quite happy with the results myself. The effort has certainly been worth it as it sold the moment I posted it in a facebook group.
So gem sales on Facebook? Any info buddy ? Be good to see .. :) like to know the link :)
 
There are several interest groups on facebook and there's nothing secret about them. I'll list a few here and you will be able to find more going from the suggestions that come up when you join these:

First CABS AND SLABS, https://www.facebook.com/groups/539242229527605/
A big group with lapidary enthousiasts and professionals from all over the world, but mainly Americans. They host an auction on Friday, a sale Saturday and a give-away on Sunday. The auction is run by the admins and they select a few members each week to offer items for auction. You can contact them prior to let them know that you have material that you'd be interested in auctioning of, but they do want to see you being active (post your work) for a while first.
You can post items to show of on all days, but only on Saturday can you outright post 'for sale' posts. The rest of the week you can add a line like "PM for more info" if you are willing to part with your treasure, but don't outright state that it's for sale. It's a tightly run group and they like to keep from getting chaotic. It is my favorite group; the knowledge there is second to none and all members are enthousiasts and show of some fantastic work.
They run a spin off for jewelry artisans that want to show what they did with the material bought in this group.
They don't have any faceters there (yet), but I think they would be very welcome.

Then there's Australian Crystals and Minerals: https://www.facebook.com/groups/australiancrystals/
They don't want lapidary work posted, but it has an incredible array of knowledgeable memberson anything Australian. They will help identify, know about good stuff and there are incredible examples of our mineral wealth posted there. They have a separate 'for sale'page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ACMsales/
(Oh, and no metaphysical rubbish either, they focus on facts, not magic.)

Then there's https://www.facebook.com/groups/204479096324062/, Minerals for auction and sale
It is not the most active group, but you can sell there and see what others have for sale. The main focus seems to be on mineral specimens, but rocks and rough and cut stones are also allowed. You will find some quality faceting material from Pakistan and the sellers are generally vetted so they can be trusted. Just keep in mind that this is the internet and it just might happen that you may be the first person to deal with a certain seller, so no info is available yet. Report problems with sellers (and buyers!) to the admins immediately (this goes for all groups by the way). They will try and help to reach a solution, and remove dodgy people swiftly if it turns sour.

There's a group that documents and archives all the dodgy deals done where there was no resolution found. It is a good idea to check your buyer or seller against this list,but I can't remember the link. If I find it again, I'll post it.

I have more groups I'm a member of, but these offer by far the most quality.

I haven't seen any faceted materials in any of these groups, so I think you'd be quite the sensation!
 
If you are serious about selling some material and showing of your work in general for the whole world to see (and critique! remember that, because you will get some!) it is always a good idea to make a dedicated facebook page, instead of just putting it on your personal page for your friends and family to woo over. It's free and you can then post to your hearts content on your own page and share a couple of these posts in the relevant groups. That way you'll attract people from all over the world to your work, without having to have them on your friends list. This is what I did with the heart above; I made a page on Saturday, posted a pic in CABS AND SLABS and by last night I had 72 members on my page. The heart sold within minutes of posting the link to my selling location (an Etsy shop, also a good idea!) and I've had a few residual sales following. All within 2 days!

Some tips on what to sell: Australian material! Australian material! Australian material!
For some reason, the mining and cutter industry in Oz still has to catch on to this phenomenon called internet. Australian material is highly sought after, especially boulder opal, but is hardly available. The supply is very scattered and people around the world have limited access to it. Glen Archer (a miner in W.A. famous for giving the world Mookaite) sells his stuff by the ton on big gem shows in the US (Quartzite and Tuscon) and that seems to be the only way for most enthousiasts to get their hands on some Oz material. I fully intend to change that! Our material is top of the range, highly sought after and should be shown of to the whole world.
 

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