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Nice opal...
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Twice...
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All of my opals are the highest quality SOLID (natural) Lightning
Ridge Opals, every single piece cut and polished by me to the highest standards.
My name is Mick and I'd like to tell you a bit about my passion for opals and a little about the 'journey' these magnificent gems (with my help) take from the opal mines of Lightning Ridge, New Soth Wales, Australia to your home (wherever you are). If you happen to buy one, some day...
Millions of years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the process of creation forged a most unique and interesting gem (opal), which displays a rainbow of colors.. the red of ruby, the blue of sapphire, the green of emerald and all other hues in vibrant to pastel shades with a wide variety of patterns. No two opals are the same, so I think it deserves the title: 'the most unique gem in the world'
My passion for opals began when I was a teenager (about 17 years ago). That's when my father (his eBay user id: blackopalsales, if you want to check out his selection, too) started his opal trading career. He was taught how to buy and cut opals by my uncle, who's been in the opal trade for 40 years. I used to watch my father cut and then grade and price these gems and I was always amazed by the wide variety of differnt colors and patterns the opals displayed. It wasn't long before I became a regular 'visitor' of my dad's workshop. I started learning the trade of opal cutting on the scrap material my father would throw away. He would always give me the rough materials that he has sorted and was considered 'useless'. I could always pick-out a few useful pieces and on the rare occasion even found one or two gems.. I would go around the opal shops in Sydney trying to sell my 'gems'. At first didn't have much success, but soon I would always sell a few stones. This is how I started my career in the opal trade.
The fact that every stone is different makes opal totally unique. I never get sick of cutting them... After cutting 10's of thousands of stones I still take the time to admire every single piece.
I visit Lightning Ridge once or twice a month to purchase rough material from the miners. They come to our house at the Ridge when the "Buying rough" sign is out in front of the house. Since the buying became more difficult due to a decline in opal production in last 7 years, sometimes have to go out to the opal fields (about an hours drive from the town) and chase miners for rough material. After I've spent my money, then it's back to Sydney (750km drive) to cut these beauties. Some of the loose opals would be sold in Sydney to exporters or jewellers and some of them would be sold to anyone in the world, with the help of the internet. (A lot of time and effort goes into the buying, cutting, taking photos and making listings..) I find it amazing that a stone I cut ends up on someone's finger or in someone's gem collection on the other side of the world. I hope to sell more on the internet in the future...
I invite you to join my many satisfied and returning customers. You can be sure of receiving an opal that is excellent value for money and is exactly as described in my listings. Every single opal that I sell was bought in the rough, cut and polished by me. It didn't go through 5 other persons, all putting some profit on it. No wonder a stone that I'd sell for $100, would cost somewhere between $700-1000 in a retail shop.
I take the photos of all my stones, taking great care so that the opal on the pictures looks exactly like it would in real life. Of course a photo doesn't bring out the true beauty and brightness of an opal, so a lot of the time the customer will get a pleasant surprise. The stone looks better in real life!
If you want to purchase an opal for that special someone, for yourself or for your own collection then
LOOK NO FURTHER, because you've COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!
I have almost two decades of experiance of buying and cutting opals, offer an excellent selection of opals that are great value for money and most importantly, I AM AN HONEST AND FAIR SELLER!
Please visit my website for information on opals using the link below.
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