This piece of rough opal is a broken rough opal Nobby that has a very large and/or thick color bar, which makes me think outside the box and go for two gems instead of one. I am taking a risk with this piece because I can't see through it and it could be full of potch, but hey, life is too short to always play it safe. So, I'm going in!
I can't see through this color bar
but I'm gonna slice right through the middle and take a really
big risk. I'm going for two stones
but the potch could ruin me right in the middle. Sometimes you
just don't know what to expect.
I'm not really a gambling man but this is my type of gamble,
an educated gamble. I reckon if I slice this right through
the color bar I could get two beautiful gems
But on the other hand,
looking at all the potch in that colour, I may get nothing.
Nothing at all.
But I still think it's worth the risk.
So I reckon I'm going in. Big, big risk here.
I haven't
looked
at it yet. I'm
too nervous.
I don't know
if I've made
the right
decision
here or not. But I hope I have
because this could be full of potch or it could be
Unbelievable color showing up on both sides
and that's what my plan is for two beautiful gems.
Are you ready? Oh no way
that's a matching pair.
Oh my goodness check out
that. Wow that paid off.
Yep well in hindsight
that was pretty stupid
but it paid off so far.
You know
while the risky part
This part is the most exciting.
This part is really quite enjoyable.
Shaping and moving,
turning and seeing different colours come out,
and making these pieces emerge
into two beautiful gems that are matching.
It can't be beat. It's the most fun part. There's no stress.
You know what you've got, and all you have to do is shape and polish.
It's times like these that I'd love to have my dad around again,
so I could share with him what's just happened,
because it's quite rare and unique.
But I've got something even better,
and that's having my son by my side,
doing the same thing that my father and I did for many years.
Yep, history is repeating itself.
