Welcome to opalholicsanonymous.com where opal season lasts forever.

Good evening dear opalholycs, I hope you had pleasant christmas vacations with your loved ones!

Mine started very well, receiving this opal ( https://www.opalauctions.com/products/t ... ce-1441046 ).
I really liked the pattern and tought I'd make it into a bracelet (too small for a necklace, but the rhomboid shape wouldn't fit in a ring imo.

This is the rough shape I wanted to make: This is after shaping and a bit of polishing on the first side (P.S. as suggested by SwordfishMining I tried to use grit 3000 and 5000 before polish and I think it really shows. Thanks! ) : It was still rough on this side so I did my best to make it more even (before & after): Next and final step was to polish the other side, but while I was polishing with the dremel, it flew into the floor and broke in two
I was kinda hyped for this opal because it looked nice and I think I was doing a pretty good job, especially with the new sandpaper I had bought.
Maybe it was too thin? Or I just need to be more careful?
And since it's only two pieces, can I paste them together?

As always, any feedback is appreciated!

-Michele

Oh, Michele, that is heartbreaking to put in all that time and work, and then have it hit the floor and crack in two. The best suggestion I have for you is to put a rug on that floor so if one flies off it's got a soft landing place instead of a hard floor. If a stone gets lost in the carpet, put a stocking over the end of the vacuum and vacuum the area until you find it. As for gluing it, I suppose you could try it, but others will have to suggest what to use. I will say that as much as I hate to do it, after reattaching the two pieces I think I would seal that one. We can all relate to stones flying off when we least expect them to, and I'm sure we can all also feel your pain on that one. Good luck with the repair.

Hi Michele , it looks like there was an fracture (you can see the white line) - possibly it was partially healed which mean that there was crack which later was refilled by silica.

Ah, so that's what it was!

Hi-- I think that stone was just telling you which part needed to go, and which part was your main stone. Yes, it may be a bit thin, but some are just that way. If it were my stone, I'd probably make it into a cushion cut, sort of rectangular...or a heart shape. Both of those would be possible looks like. Just suggestions...lol...and I'd keep the the part that came off...you never know...inlay later on...a small doublet...idk.
Hey, cracks, and pieces breaking off are a tragedy in the moment for sure, but they have happened to me too some of the time. Try not to let it get you down, and keep on keepin on. Just my thoughts, and good luck!

Thank you!

btw. just to let you know - if anybody need some similar stuff - but good without cracks lol - I have some affordable mid-grade rough & rubs for sale - just hit me PM and let me know what you are looking for
*or if you want I might create post with some rough for sale ?

OpalSpectrum wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:15 pm btw. just to let you know - if anybody need some similar stuff - but good without cracks lol - I have some affordable mid-grade rough & rubs for sale - just hit me PM and let me know what you are looking for
*or if you want I might create post with some rough for sale ?

Absolutely!

Aw, dang. Ive been blocked off from my equipment so long it reminds me of the challenges. Sorting is in the way & then there was new stuff keeps piling on too. The enemies of efficiency never sleep in my hovel, BUT the Christmas lights did get comments again. There is SO MUCH weird expressions of precious in our material, you want to just starbond it to start with if it is not a solid piece.

For example I have been Star Bonding the thin and fragile things for decades. Getting around to polishing them or selling the egg cartons full just was back burner while getting thru the health issues. Getting my Sun for vitamin D was close to the top of my list. Snowing today so I made a video upload.
https://rumble.com/v469ve9-gem-opal-lay ... mbast.html