About Opals & More

Ancient Glass Care Tips: Preserving the Iridescence of Silk Road Treasures

Preserving the iridescent patina of Silk Road Ancient glass is crucial. Handle with care, clean with gentle methods, and avoid water submersion to ...

The Art of Stone Polishing: Why Dowels Are Essential

An important part of gemstone lapidary is using so called doping sticks - wooden or metal dowels to achieve the best results.

How to Polish Opals

The main steps I use to bring opals from rough to polished gemstone.

Adventures of Coffee Opals

Some year or so ago I spilled a substantial amount of coffee on some opals, those two Ethiopian opals included. I decided to try and "wash" it out ...

Preshaping Australian Opals

Here is a longer video of first step cutting opals.I'm preshaping stones so they are ready to go on dopping sticks. This is the step when the play ...

Opal Rough Buying Guide: Expert Tips for New Cutters

Purchasing opal rough online can be very frustrating when you start your opal journey. I tried to put together tips of where to look and things to ...

Planning process of cutting 20ct Coober Pedy opal

An insight of planning process for cutting 20ct Coober Pedy opal. Sometimes I need to research the opal to figure out the best way how will be cut.

Brazilian Opals

Brazilian opals are found in North Eastern Brazil and are closely related to Australian crystal opals, sometimes causing confusion. Opals from B...

Types of Australian Opals

The most famous, diverse and beautiful - Australian opals hold a special place in the gemstone world. Australia is the largest producer of opals in...

How to dop opals using wax

Some time ago, I made a video that shows how I dop opals using cabbing wax. A doping stick allows for easier handling of a stone which results in m...