Lightning Ridge Black Opal Rough Parcel 316 CT $0.01 NR

Hi, I am James Dumar click on my name to view my listings.

My journey with Opal began in 1984 with a classified ad in the Cairns Post Newspaper:

Opal Cutting Machine and Opal Rough $400

The little old English chap who was selling the gear had been many years digging and cutting at Coober Pedy, and when I saw the two five gallon buckets of seam opal, I almost broke my fingers getting the money out of my pocket- it was that fast!

I grew up on a street that had three rockhounds, including my Dad; so I knew how to cut in theory.

Within the week I had made $4000 out of those buckets - they were only emptied by about an inch, and I was firmly hooked.

Over the years in Lightning Ridge, I cut over 40,000 stones on contract for other people, as well as material for myself.

This experience has given me a rare insight into what to expect from the rough Black Opal not shared by many on earth.

I want you to be very satisfied with what you buy here so please observe the following caveats in red:

If you do not know the difference between light and black opal, please do not bid on my auctions.

Black Opal is one of the most expensive and valuable gems, and is not suitable for beginners.

At minimum, you should cut on balanced, accurate, diamond wheels, know how to make a doublet, know how to carve and finish undulating face material with a handpiece and nova points.

If you are unsatisfied with the material, for any reason at all, just return uncut and unaltered in original condition within seven days of receipt for a full refund.

Please note, inexperienced cutters can ruin fine gems, so If you touch it to the wheel, you own it!

Shipping is FREE!

I only ship on Wednesdays, so please make sure your payment is timely.

Please pay within three days of your final winning auction.

When leaving your detailed seller rating, kindly consider that once the item is despatched, I have no control over how long it takes to arrive!

Generally, most parcels arrive within 5-10 days of posting, and rarely take two weeks.

Feel welcome to contact me with any questions.

Thanks!

James Dumar

 

Parcel of Rough and rubs from Lightning Ridge

Scale is millimeters

18.6 carats!

8.60 carats

1.40 carats

1.30 carats

1.95 carats

1.35 carats- gem doublet piece

0.85 carats

1.60 carats

1.40 carats

18.30 carats- will cut a domed cab

19.55 carats - it is very rare to see opal nobbies nowadays.

15.45 carats gem black opal.

Every piece will cut a stone, some will cut more than one.

316 carats total weight

The material i am offering here is not for the novice !

It is highly productive of high gem quality in the right hands, in the wrong hands, it could easily be ruined

Just a note to explain how i work:

The photos below show actual

"unsearched mine run rough opal"

Please note the plentiful colour visible, as well as a few pieces that will obviously produce viable cut stones.

My long years of experience in cutting black opal enable me to select cuttable rough from the large quantity of unproductive material that forms more than 95% of mine run opal.

The pile of rough you see has provided the stones you see in my listings. It represents about one years production.

I process the material to show the potential of the the stones, We call this style of preparation "roughly rubbed" on the field.

This means that most of the lapidary work such as sawing, cutting, sanding, and polishing remain to be done by you.

Where a stone is obviously productive- I try not to rub it at all, as I believe my customers also want to further develop their skills as lapidarists in this extremely rare and complex variety of opal.

The truth about "unsearched mine run"

You may see listings that claim to scoop up this kind of material without grading; the attraction if you choose to believe the claim, is that you may fluke a top gem worth thousands of dollars.

When logic is applied to the offer, the premise looks bloody weak and designed to gull the weak minded!

So if you want to buy dead potch, with a little colour for specimen material, you will find plenty in this style of offer.

It looks great in aquaria!

If you are a novice opal cutter, you would be best served by working first with material from Coober Pedy, which is very predictable, and perfect for beginners.

I do not sell this type of material, but it is plentiful on ebay.

Lightning Ridge Black Opal is among the rarest and most valuable gems, and should not be used for practise!

My success in this business depends on each and every one of my customers being 100% satisfied. That is my personal guarantee to you.

I start these auctions at one cent and let the market determine the value. If the price that you pay allows me to, I will include a generous bonus of usable material as a thank you.