Rough Opals
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Rough Opals – From The Mines To Precious Opal
Rough opals are uncut stone direct from the opal mines. Rough opal are uncut and unshaped gemstones, which are sold after cleaning, to either opal cutters who are using them for a hobby, or for serious processional cutters who on sell the completed stones to jewellers and opal manufacturers. Australian opal mines are the source of most of the worlds production of opals, being over 90% of the supplies. Opal rough can come in all colors and shades. Broadly speaking, white and crystal opal rough comes from the Coober Pedy fields in South Australia, black opal comes from Lightning Ridge in NSW, and boulder opal comes from Queensland.
Parcel of white rough opals and crystal opal rough from S.A.
Feeding the Opal Jewelry manufacturing demand
For successful gemstone jewelry production, it’s necessary to have a regular supply of stones and this can be a problem with rough opals at present. In the case of gemstones such as sapphires, diamonds, rubies, etc, this is not such a big problem because there are usually good supplies of these stones available from distributors in standard mm sizes and colors so that most designs can be catered for. However in the case of opals, because each opal is different and the colors are so varied that, at times it’s difficult to do multiples of a particular design. This applies mostly to black and boulder opals. In the case of white or crystal opal, the supplies are more consistent and the colors similar so that an opal manufacturer can set up a production line, using standard castings.
Variations of Rough Opals
Quality of rough opal varies from one parcel to another. This is the challenge that is met by the opal cutter.
- Mine Run – Uncut rough opals sourced directly from the mine. Cutting process requires more than beginner knowledge and is harder with such opals because the color is often not obvious and mistakes can be made in the buying process unless you have a lot of experience.
- Off Cuts – Off cuts are rough opals that remain after the miner has removed lucrative opal components from the stone. This type of rough opal is what is left over after the top quality gems have been sold. You might think that you are getting someone else’s rejects but this is often not the case because it could be that the cutter has a particular high grade market and he makes his money out of the tops tones. What is left can still be really good opal and not so expensive. If the opal miner or opal cutter does not have a current market for this material, you can pick up a bargain that will suit your needs.
- Rubs – These are cleaned and shaped rough opals that have the color exposed and most of the rubbish removed. This is a less risky way of buying rough and is also very economical to send through the post. There is no point in paying freight for material that is no good to cut unless you are using it to practice, which of course is a good idea if you are just learning.
Peter with Jim a Lightning Ridge opal miner
Choosing Rough Opals
Buying rough opals can be risky and is open to quite a lot of interference from shady dealers. Some opals are ok as long as they are in water, but as soon as they are removed they can crack and fall to pieces. Australia has a good reputation for producing stable opal although there are some fields that can give trouble, so if you are buying rough opals, try to deal with opal people who have a good reputation and will look after you in case you lose money.
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love your web site peter, great opal images and information
thankyou for the nice comments doc, we try our best to please
Doc, thats a great name! I heard you are a computer diongnostician if there is such a word. Doctor of the Poot (computer) thanks for your nice comments.
could you give me some advice on where to buy from the mines direct so i can get uncut boulder opal? i am not a dealer. but i am interested in opals. i used to make jewelry and would like to try my hand at it. I s there mines tha will ship you small quantities fro hobby? or do you have to find a miner that sells his own stones?
Tina, yes, we can help you. We are opal miners as well as processors and we distribute rough opal throughout the world. However, keep in mind that it’s almost impossible to deal with rough boulder opal unless it has at least been broken down into manageable pieces and preferably cleaned up so you know what you are getting. If you buy it by the kilo, you could end up with no color at all, and a big bill for the freight. At times we can supply mine run material at your own risk but usually we sell what we call ‘rubs’. Here is a recent example which has now sold: http://www.opals.co/shop/boulder-opal-rough-blr005/ The wholesale price of this parcel was $6000. You just have to let me know an approximate budget and i can suggest something. If you do your own setting, keep in mind that you can also get unset stones. Send me an email to peter@opalmine.com to discuss it further. Best wishes Tina, Peter
Tina, please email me direct. peter@opalmine.com regarding rough opal supplies . we are mining boulder opal at present and will have some stock to offer. best wishes, Peter
why mustn’t I allow my opls to get wet?
Maureen: This is an example of the type of misinformation that is promoted about opal. Just click here for information about opal care . There’s no problem putting opal in water. the only thing you have to be careful of is if you have an opal triplet, which is an opal with a clear crystal cap to protect it. if you constantly put stones like this in hot and detergent water, it can lift the cap off. So if you like, take a picture of your opal and submit it on this forum. i will take a look at it and let you know what you have and what to do to take care of it. but in the meantime, please read the information in the link provided.
I am from Adis Abeba Ethiopia exporting welo delanta opal to different part of the world for three years but as I see your experience is very big,so what I need is please share your golden experience to me and like me from less developed countries with big undiscovered resources.
Thank you
Yeshalem
Yeshalem, i have tried cutting wello opal many times and it always cracks after a while. some say they have tried some that remains stable. if you like you can send me a few pieces for testing so that i can comment on it at this forum. the other problem is, how do you value it? the last samples i received were full of cracks and only good for specimens. i need samples that will cut complete stones to test it properly.
I really like rough opals and want to thank you for your cool article here.
Thanks
Opal Wholesale
Thanks Marty. Do you have a copy of the ‘opal bloke’ CD ? It gives you over 30 years of experience in dealing with rough opal as well as a heap of other stuff. you can get it for free with $120 worth of rough opal. Easy to double your money on that. The details are somewhere on the site where it discusses rough opal. best wishes Marty, Peter