The matrix is silicified kaolinite clay... opal is precipitated by the presence of iron oxide in the sulfide solutions responsible for secondary mineralization... iron oxide makes light opal, iron sulfide makes black opal... all the body colors are a mixture of the two... and copper here in Arizona and New Mexico... The kaolinite clay started out as volcanic ash form the eastern mountain range along the coast... it fell into the inland sea, which is now the great basin in the outback of Australia... it has the largest reservoir of fresh water in the world... all the opal fields are along the periphery.... volcanic ash is small to microscopic crystals of plageoclase feldspar, notably labradorite.... weathering removes the light metals sodium and calcium... leaving the alumino/silicate clay.... two layers, aluminum oxide, and silicone dioxide.... during opalization the aluminum oxide is stripped away leaving the silica with a charge deficit, which attracts the iron oxide/sulfide molecules.... and the single layer collapses in on itself to make a single sphere.... it happens really fast... couple of days for black opal, three days for light opal.... I will have clay to finish my research... and I will publish then
I lived in Coober Pedy met a lot of people that were opal cutters but you're analysis of opal is really awesome thank you for showing your skills love and light to you brother
I've never had much interest in Andamooka Matrix Opal, but these are _fabulous_ and I have a new appreciation! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent.
It's very frustrating to see how many people sell this globally to customers as "untreated". I wish more people like you explained and declared treatments to viewers and customers.
I think by far best video ever from you is on the bubble opal. Like i never knew. Crazy crazy pretty and nothing i have ever seen. Besides the fact you tell us what its all about. Ya know great videos all round.
You're underestimating yourself and what youve done! Even the not so good ones are awesome! OMG! To go from the one color to the rainbow is amazing! Patent you're process immediately!
Breathtaking! While watching this, looking at the opal pretreatment, I was reminded of something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but as I watched the areas colorshift and the pattern I figured it out! A long time ago, when my dad was really into making his own jewelry by carving bone and stones, he'd get freebies and deals at the local rock shop because the owner loved his stuff so much. One of the freebies was a slab about 3 by 4 inches of a really cool dark iridescent stuff. When my dad gave me his old tools and materials this rainbow slab was one of my favorites and when I asked he couldn't tell me what stone it was. This was so long ago and I've been searching to find anything that looks like it to no avail. Now I friggin know! And it looks like the Honduran matrix opal so I'm guessing that's what it is. So thanks for that!
I have not seen better treated Andamooka matrix, nor have I seen better Andamooka matrix. You are a clever boy. Thats as good as the ridge for color, if it was LR, it would be 5k a carat. AND to think it looks 100 x better in the flesh! Well done.
Wow, thank u for pointing me to this. This is what Matt Powers gave me to practice cut with. I had a bunch of the clear stuff after cutting I threw in the aquarium lol. I had no idea About the treatment. Matt was on a TV show selling Opals is how I met him. He told me so many stories about going To Australia and contacts he had. Once I heard how sick he was I figured I got ripped off. He really sold me some great rough. After the first of the year I email you and buy some of the material if you sell it to get my skills back before even touching that expensive black. I least I was smart enough not to ruin it. Thank you for pointing me to this. I got upset with cutting, because in my little town Jewerly store I go to, they tried to sell some for me and told me they could not give good opals away in this part of the country. So I got discouraged that my hobby would never make money.
They all looked beautiful to me, even the ones that didn't take the solution. My favorite was the very dark one with green specs. Thanks for the video. It is very cool to see what goes into making gem stones!
A wonderful instructional video. I have been cutting exotic agates and jaspers for years, but am new to the more delicate art of opal work. Still learning about the many kinds of materials but you explain your topic so well. Thanks.
Been 20 years since I set in 18k anything like this. They were free form just over hundred carat. And made really nice pieces. And I haven't seen anything like it since then
Man...i was just reading through these comments here and i just had to say that im in heaven! 😍😏😍 seeing a few of you guys, (who've obviously been around and in this line of work for years already, and clearly know what youre talking about) just casually talking shop...was soo juicy and informative for a baby rock geek like myself! 😎 It was such a priveledge just to be able to watch this video and read through the comments. I was taking notes & soaking up the knowledge like a sponge. LOVED this video. 🙏Thank you so much for making it and sharing your knowledge & expertise with us! Oh & btw, i clicked the subscribe button about 8 seconds into the video! You had me at the words, "treated matrix opal" Hahaha. 😁😁😁
Pulitzer Opal ok. Wow, that was unnessesary, and pretty rude honestly. Dont worry you wont be hearing from me again. Im unsubscribing. Thanks anyway & Good luck.👌
Pulitzer Opal- Ohhh, wow...(sigh...😔) i feel like such a jerk now...Thank you for the complement! I see now that i somehow misinterpreted the tone of your last comment and took it entirely the wrong way. I do appologize. Its easy to do these days, being that everyones preferred method of communication seems to be reading text from itty bitty screens on our handheld devices...(and they call this progress!? Smh... 😏) but that still dosent excuse my jumping to conclusions...Sorry about that, again. 🙏 Hopefully youre the understanding type, and wouldnt mind if i re-subscribed to your channel? 👍 (i do come in peace, honest.✌😬)
That's the beauty of opal for you-every piece tells a story, even those that are a bit rough around the edges. Sometimes, it's the imperfections that make things truly captivating. Glad you can see the charm in the untamed gems too! 🌈✨
The matrix i have you get an up side with the brightest play of color and the sides are not as dramatic. Definitely orient your rough for play of color not biggest slabs before lumbering and always before treating or you wont know which end is up, if not marked beforehand. You can test penetration by drying the rough in air and seeing if it evaporates even or off the dots first. The dots that dry fast will dye black and what doesnt dry might not treat well.
No it won’t, amber. Treatment on works on matrix opal. It doesn’t work on regular opal On the other hand, it might make the wood areas black, but I don’t think you should risk it. Most wood opal has a solid background, which would not absorb the black.
@@PulitzerOpal Thank You Colonel! I don't want to trash it, but was wondering if there is any color in it. Thought maybe this would bring it out. Thank You for letting me know not to bother!
The sugar is ordinary granulated sugar. The acid is concentrated sulfuric acid (No other acid will work). Here is a video for you: ua-cam.com/video/pRXGDrLSTJ0/v-deo.html
@@PulitzerOpal I hope you find it later... you might have put it somewhere and don't remeber the place. I really fell in love with the matrix... stunning.
Never mind, I just found the other video! I knew I heard that somewhere on one of these! Do subsequent treatments make matrix opal look better? (Without more cutting I mean- I do understand you should treat several times) and also, if you can recommend a good source to acquire some matrix opal, its been hard for me to find any for the most part.
@@PulitzerOpal heck yes I have my eyes on a 300ct piece that just looks fantastic!! Your channel brings me great joy even the older videos like these sp much I haven't seen
That’s amazing- i have some black opal i managed to dry out w/ either peroxide or alchahol or both and i need to re-hydrate them - i’d like tour advice before i do something else stupid- anyway to contact you?
Thanks for your knowledge and information. What is the dilution of sugar and sulfuric acid mixtures and what temp do you heat at? Is it heated in a oven? Do you have to shape before treatment? Good on you mate.
Pulitzer Opal ... do you know who Len Cram is?... he figured out how opal really forms... when we make opal from kaolinite clay we use piranha solution... I use a reagent grade sulfuric acid, and full strength hydrogen peroxide, although 35% H2O2 works with a little more added... it literally disolves the aluminum oxide and measurements indicate the oxygen is actually separated from the metals... not silica, but iron oxide or sulfide... I should have a video of this soon
it occurs to me that you could finish the opalization of the clay... unfortunately the reason it didn't opalize may be something that prevents the clay from opalizing... clay particles too big... not weathered sufficiently... who knows, but it might be fun to play with
@@PulitzerOpal Yep. Some sellers on ebay have not figured out that putting a high price on something does not make it more valuable. I personally prefer treated matrix opal due to the color contrasts, but I am not about to pay prices comparable to (or higher than) than those of natural solid opal.
I have recently cabbed some andamooka matrix that I have had for over 30 years. i wanted to do the treatment, but I can not buy Sulfuric acid anywhere. I have tried local chemical supply companies, large online chemical supply companies and I can not find a supply. The recipes for the treatment I found call for at least 90% sulfuric acid. The only thing I can find is battery acid from an auto parts store which I think is at most 50% sulfuric acid. Any advice on how to get the acid would be greatly appreciated.
@@PulitzerOpal I finished my first treatment yesterday. I ended up using a concentrated sulfuric acid drain cleaner which advertises itself at 90 - 95% concentration. I did 24 hours and 24 hours sugar and acid. Some of the stones turned out killer some didn't really absorb the sugar evenly. Overall the I was very happy with the result. Cabbing the next batch now. Took me back to the mid 80's when I was stationed in Woomera and would ride the bus into Andamooka every weekend I could to mine and learn how to cut with my friend Marijan Anic from Castle Opal Showroom.
I have some just treated. I cut and shaped my piece, but once I pulled it out of acid it seemed to have undercut the stone a bit and now it’s not smooth. 3 days sugar and 3 days acid. What went wrong?
I’m not sure when I release this video, but it was a long time ago. My formula for treating matrix opal has changed. I now recommend one day in sugar and 4 to 8 hours in acid. You can always check whether something is happening once it’s in acid. If you leave it in acid for too long, it may over treat and be nearly black, making the colors difficult to see. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “undercut the stone,“ but, three days in acid is too long. I’m sorry if I recommended that. I don’t know if I did, but I’m going to put something in the description to let people know that three days is too long. On the other hand, most matrix opal can easily withstand three days in acid. After a day in sugar, you will be able to tell if your opal is treating in less than two hours in hot acid, but you need to go a little bit longer to make sure it treated fully.
@@PulitzerOpalthanks. I was already thinking about dropping my cook times down. The stone got a little punky in the acid and stone became rough to the touch instead of smooth. I didn’t mind the black because it really brought out the color from gray and white to that deep black. Will try 1 day sugar and 8hour acid and see how those results come out. I do appreciate you getting back to me!
Good plan. I should mention that if you treat it as you said, if it only turns gray, it likely will not ever turn black. I showed some gray ones in a recent video that were treated 9-10 times. Treating matrix is additive!
May I ask, I appreciate your busy but hope you'll reply, is there a particular name for the kind of matrix opal that is more towards the pixelated look (you had one that was not the colors I liked that you had difficulty getting focused in and said "it is kind of hard to appreciate") ?
I think that what you are looking for is the name of the pattern in opal (both solid and matrix) that consists of regularly-spaced glitter-like color(?) That is referred to as "pin-fire." Does that help?
That's a fascinating observation, Marco! It might look like seam crystal, but it's actually a unique opal cabochon. Opals have a way of surprising us with their beauty. 😄🌟
Sir. i have blackopal andamoka stone from australia. measuring 66.19 crat. but the results are still less shiny. how to shine and what to do. Thank you sir. I am from Indonesia, Surabaya
I bought some local but they look translucent until you get them in the right light and with something behind them then they show a lot of color will doing a treatment on it help bring them colors out
@@PulitzerOpal Thank you much for your reply. I am at work now but will look on eBay later. I would only be interested in buying a larger slab to cut, polish etc for a pendant for myself. I see the high prices and may not be able to afford such a piece. I will email you soon and please let me know if you would consider selling a larger slice. I must say these are really special stones. Thanks again.
The matrix is silicified kaolinite clay... opal is precipitated by the presence of iron oxide in the sulfide solutions responsible for secondary mineralization... iron oxide makes light opal, iron sulfide makes black opal... all the body colors are a mixture of the two... and copper here in Arizona and New Mexico... The kaolinite clay started out as volcanic ash form the eastern mountain range along the coast... it fell into the inland sea, which is now the great basin in the outback of Australia... it has the largest reservoir of fresh water in the world... all the opal fields are along the periphery.... volcanic ash is small to microscopic crystals of plageoclase feldspar, notably labradorite.... weathering removes the light metals sodium and calcium... leaving the alumino/silicate clay.... two layers, aluminum oxide, and silicone dioxide.... during opalization the aluminum oxide is stripped away leaving the silica with a charge deficit, which attracts the iron oxide/sulfide molecules.... and the single layer collapses in on itself to make a single sphere.... it happens really fast... couple of days for black opal, three days for light opal.... I will have clay to finish my research... and I will publish then
Richard Carew i would love too know the results of this conversation gents ? 😉
dont know why your name didn't come up don in my comment,
we call our matrix potch, is this the same? Klamath Oregon.
Would you want to sell one
Pulitzer Opal ... I am usually found in my group on Facebook
One Planet One People!
Except I am working on diamonds now
I would love to see an instructional video of the treatment process! Very impressive results!!!
I lived in Coober Pedy met a lot of people that were opal cutters but you're analysis of opal is really awesome thank you for showing your skills love and light to you brother
I've never had much interest in Andamooka Matrix Opal, but these are _fabulous_ and I have a new appreciation! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent.
The colors are so incredibly beautiful. The dark background shows such a deep matrix. Love your videos!
This has to be the most beautiful matrix opal I have ever seen! Thank you for sharing.
The shots of lavender fire in the cream stone alone is strikingly beautiful...wow
These are breathtaking, even the larger pieces you said didn't treat well are amazing.
This is by far the best matrix opal i have ever seen, very nice material thanks for sharing
It's very frustrating to see how many people sell this globally to customers as "untreated".
I wish more people like you explained and declared treatments to viewers and customers.
That is the most astounding opal coloration I have ever seen. Thank you for sharing it with us.
OMG that is the most beautiful stone i ever saw !!! what color my god !!
I think by far best video ever from you is on the bubble opal. Like i never knew. Crazy crazy pretty and nothing i have ever seen. Besides the fact you tell us what its all about. Ya know great videos all round.
You're underestimating yourself and what youve done! Even the not so good ones are awesome! OMG! To go from the one color to the rainbow is amazing! Patent you're process immediately!
Wonderful handling of this beautiful material !
OMG!!!!! Stunning. Thanks for sharing, that was a real treat.
ق. 🎉😢
Breathtaking!
While watching this, looking at the opal pretreatment, I was reminded of something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but as I watched the areas colorshift and the pattern I figured it out! A long time ago, when my dad was really into making his own jewelry by carving bone and stones, he'd get freebies and deals at the local rock shop because the owner loved his stuff so much. One of the freebies was a slab about 3 by 4 inches of a really cool dark iridescent stuff. When my dad gave me his old tools and materials this rainbow slab was one of my favorites and when I asked he couldn't tell me what stone it was. This was so long ago and I've been searching to find anything that looks like it to no avail. Now I friggin know! And it looks like the Honduran matrix opal so I'm guessing that's what it is.
So thanks for that!
I have not seen better treated Andamooka matrix, nor have I seen better Andamooka matrix.
You are a clever boy.
Thats as good as the ridge for color, if it was LR, it would be 5k a carat.
AND to think it looks 100 x better in the flesh!
Well done.
Wow, thank u for pointing me to this. This is what Matt Powers gave me to practice cut with. I had a bunch of the clear stuff after cutting I threw in the aquarium lol. I had no idea About the treatment. Matt was on a TV show selling Opals is how I met him. He told me so many stories about going To Australia and contacts he had. Once I heard how sick he was I figured I got ripped off. He really sold me some great rough. After the first of the year I email you and buy some of the material if you sell it to get my skills back before even touching that expensive black. I least I was smart enough not to ruin it. Thank you for pointing me to this. I got upset with cutting, because in my little town Jewerly store I go to, they tried to sell some for me and told me they could not give good opals away in this part of the country. So I got discouraged that my hobby would never make money.
I came back to see these beauties again.
My jaw dropped. I just finished a painting that looks like your opals. What lovely timing. 💖🌈🙂
They all looked beautiful to me, even the ones that didn't take the solution. My favorite was the very dark one with green specs. Thanks for the video. It is very cool to see what goes into making gem stones!
There isn't a pc that you say didn't treat that well, that I wouldn't love to own! What beautiful stones!
A wonderful instructional video. I have been cutting exotic agates and jaspers for years, but am new to the more delicate art of opal work. Still learning about the many kinds of materials but you explain your topic so well. Thanks.
Been 20 years since I set in 18k anything like this. They were free form just over hundred carat. And made really nice pieces.
And I haven't seen anything like it since then
Stunningly beautiful chemical transformation of opal and fascinating to see the magnificent beauty of the vibrant colours. Many thanks for sharing.
Incredible pieces!! BEAUTIFUL!!
Love Black Opal… and these pieces are heavenly!!
That's an impressive change. Very nice!
Gorgeous stones. Treated and untreated.
I've been buying Ethiopian rough opal from ebay, just scraps really. I can't afford the beautiful stuff you have. You're very lucky.
Simply stunning , the process to bring out the beauty fascinates me , would love to see how it's done , tfs
Just an awesome job. Even the not so well treated one looks nice. Cant wait to try this.
This opal is new to me. It's incredibly beautiful.
Absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
Breathtaking. So beautiful!
thanku for this,I thought the colours were natural and I've considered buying them off eBay,now I'll stick to real certified gems
Black then the green is my favorite!
Incredibly stunning!!! Wow where can I get just 1 slice of these??
Man...i was just reading through these comments here and i just had to say that im in heaven! 😍😏😍 seeing a few of you guys, (who've obviously been around and in this line of work for years already, and clearly know what youre talking about) just casually talking shop...was soo juicy and informative for a baby rock geek like myself! 😎 It was such a priveledge just to be able to watch this video and read through the comments. I was taking notes & soaking up the knowledge like a sponge. LOVED this video. 🙏Thank you so much for making it and sharing your knowledge & expertise with us! Oh & btw, i clicked the subscribe button about 8 seconds into the video! You had me at the words, "treated matrix opal" Hahaha. 😁😁😁
Pulitzer Opal ok. Wow, that was unnessesary, and pretty rude honestly. Dont worry you wont be hearing from me again. Im unsubscribing. Thanks anyway & Good luck.👌
Pulitzer Opal- Ohhh, wow...(sigh...😔)
i feel like such a jerk now...Thank you for the complement! I see now that i somehow misinterpreted the tone of your last comment and took it entirely the wrong way. I do appologize. Its easy to do these days, being that everyones preferred method of communication seems to be reading text from itty bitty screens on our handheld devices...(and they call this progress!? Smh... 😏) but that still dosent excuse my jumping to conclusions...Sorry about that, again. 🙏 Hopefully youre the understanding type, and wouldnt mind if i re-subscribed to your channel? 👍
(i do come in peace, honest.✌😬)
Pulitzer Opal no need to appologize! Sounds like we're both totally all good here. & Thank you for being so kind.
✌😉
Fantastic! Even the 1st tests are great
Gostei muito dó seu canal é sou garimpeiro é descobri muito coisa interessante pedra de raio fugorito é ó trás mais
Supper mater material and treatment,are and of those stones for sale anywhere,or the rough? Great work.
I would love to try making some of this.
the opal looks like galaxy in the night sky
I have two opals from Australia. One is a black opal with beautiful colours
I think I love treated matrix opal the most!
Even the stuff that "didn't treat so well" is gorgeous.
That's the beauty of opal for you-every piece tells a story, even those that are a bit rough around the edges. Sometimes, it's the imperfections that make things truly captivating. Glad you can see the charm in the untamed gems too! 🌈✨
I wish you could make a video of the treatment =]
I can't wait!! Thank you :)
I would seriously buy jewelry with just the raw, polished material.
The matrix i have you get an up side with the brightest play of color and the sides are not as dramatic. Definitely orient your rough for play of color not biggest slabs before lumbering and always before treating or you wont know which end is up, if not marked beforehand. You can test penetration by drying the rough in air and seeing if it evaporates even or off the dots first. The dots that dry fast will dye black and what doesnt dry might not treat well.
Will this treatment work on opalized petrified wood? Wood opal, the piece I have is primarily blue-grey.
No it won’t, amber. Treatment on works on matrix opal. It doesn’t work on regular opal On the other hand, it might make the wood areas black, but I don’t think you should risk it. Most wood opal has a solid background, which would not absorb the black.
@@PulitzerOpal Thank You Colonel! I don't want to trash it, but was wondering if there is any color in it. Thought maybe this would bring it out. Thank You for letting me know not to bother!
That’s beautiful sir. How much does one of those stones sell for? Absolutely beautiful!
Where can i buy some andomoka opal? I hope i didnt spell it wrong.😊
Sorry i did spell andomooka wrong lol.🙄
did you continue cutting perpendicular to the seams for the rest of the stone or did you make some straight red ones?
John Cooper
I think I have a block of this material. Is it relatively light weight when compared to other rocks? I'm not an expert, so just asking.
I'm from Indonesia. I have kalimaya banten. That's so nice brooo...
Its so beautiful wish i could own one in the future
Out of this world pieces. SB management. Wilma SB
Thanks, Wilma!
So so beautiful. Thank you far explaining things.
An amazing transformation!
Very stunning colour. Good collection u have there.
Very Beautiful and interesting 👏
Hello, can you write the type of sugar and acid to improve the opal, thank you ❤
The sugar is ordinary granulated sugar. The acid is concentrated sulfuric acid (No other acid will work). Here is a video for you: ua-cam.com/video/pRXGDrLSTJ0/v-deo.html
That one at 2:40 is absolutely perfect! I actually really like the matrix that doesn’t treat well. I think it has character like me!😂🤷🏼♀️
Thank you! Wonderfully informative. Liked, Subscribed.
WOW... the matrix opal in the beginning of the video is amazing.... I want :)
@@PulitzerOpal I hope you find it later... you might have put it somewhere and don't remeber the place. I really fell in love with the matrix... stunning.
That is by far the prettiest Andamooka matrix I have ever seen. Did you say you came across this one in a pawn shop?
Never mind, I just found the other video! I knew I heard that somewhere on one of these! Do subsequent treatments make matrix opal look better? (Without more cutting I mean- I do understand you should treat several times) and also, if you can recommend a good source to acquire some matrix opal, its been hard for me to find any for the most part.
Wow, OMGOSH. My eyes love this.
Can you make a video how to do the treatment you've mentioned?
@@PulitzerOpal thanks man
I really love your work. Do you have a website for your work? I think I would like to buy something for you.
@@PulitzerOpal
Np. Thanks for the reply. I'm an artist myself so I really know how much work goes into this. :D
I'll check out your site.
Can you store treated rough andamooka in water to display it or will keeping it in water always cause a problem for the stone?
@@PulitzerOpal heck yes I have my eyes on a 300ct piece that just looks fantastic!! Your channel brings me great joy even the older videos like these sp much I haven't seen
Favor traduzir o ingles para brasileiros entender.grata.
Hi, can you please make a video how are they made ?
That’s amazing- i have some black opal i managed to dry out w/ either peroxide or alchahol or both and i need to re-hydrate them - i’d like tour advice before i do something else stupid- anyway to contact you?
Wow! It is magical. The finest job in treating opal matrix...do you heat the stones in an oven or by what means?
Thanks again! By what means do you HEAT the opal matrix? Oven, torch, stove top...or?
Very beautiful OPAL 😍
Thanks for your knowledge and information. What is the dilution of sugar and sulfuric acid mixtures and what temp do you heat at? Is it heated in a oven? Do you have to shape before treatment? Good on you mate.
thanks very much for your info -- i really appreciate it
+Pulitzer Opal thanks so much. i used to treat with citric acid, but takes so long time (more than a month). have you try with other kind opal?
Pulitzer Opal ... do you know who Len Cram is?... he figured out how opal really forms... when we make opal from kaolinite clay we use piranha solution... I use a reagent grade sulfuric acid, and full strength hydrogen peroxide, although 35% H2O2 works with a little more added... it literally disolves the aluminum oxide and measurements indicate the oxygen is actually separated from the metals... not silica, but iron oxide or sulfide... I should have a video of this soon
it occurs to me that you could finish the opalization of the clay... unfortunately the reason it didn't opalize may be something that prevents the clay from opalizing... clay particles too big... not weathered sufficiently... who knows, but it might be fun to play with
Where can you buy these beautiful opals? Is there a list of reputable vendors? I so want to buy some pieces of these!
@@PulitzerOpal Yep. Some sellers on ebay have not figured out that putting a high price on something does not make it more valuable.
I personally prefer treated matrix opal due to the color contrasts, but I am not about to pay prices comparable to (or higher than) than those of natural solid opal.
I have recently cabbed some andamooka matrix that I have had for over 30 years. i wanted to do the treatment, but I can not buy Sulfuric acid anywhere. I have tried local chemical supply companies, large online chemical supply companies and I can not find a supply. The recipes for the treatment I found call for at least 90% sulfuric acid. The only thing I can find is battery acid from an auto parts store which I think is at most 50% sulfuric acid. Any advice on how to get the acid would be greatly appreciated.
@@PulitzerOpal I finished my first treatment yesterday. I ended up using a concentrated sulfuric acid drain cleaner which advertises itself at 90 - 95% concentration. I did 24 hours and 24 hours sugar and acid. Some of the stones turned out killer some didn't really absorb the sugar evenly. Overall the I was very happy with the result. Cabbing the next batch now. Took me back to the mid 80's when I was stationed in Woomera and would ride the bus into Andamooka every weekend I could to mine and learn how to cut with my friend Marijan Anic from Castle Opal Showroom.
Did you ever cut more of this ? 😻
Wow!!!!! Sooo beautiful!!
Hi....where is possible to buy this kind of stones? Are in average expensive? Hope in your information. Thank you
I have some just treated. I cut and shaped my piece, but once I pulled it out of acid it seemed to have undercut the stone a bit and now it’s not smooth. 3 days sugar and 3 days acid. What went wrong?
I’m not sure when I release this video, but it was a long time ago. My formula for treating matrix opal has changed. I now recommend one day in sugar and 4 to 8 hours in acid. You can always check whether something is happening once it’s in acid. If you leave it in acid for too long, it may over treat and be nearly black, making the colors difficult to see.
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “undercut the stone,“ but, three days in acid is too long. I’m sorry if I recommended that. I don’t know if I did, but I’m going to put something in the description to let people know that three days is too long. On the other hand, most matrix opal can easily withstand three days in acid. After a day in sugar, you will be able to tell if your opal is treating in less than two hours in hot acid, but you need to go a little bit longer to make sure it treated fully.
@@PulitzerOpalthanks. I was already thinking about dropping my cook times down. The stone got a little punky in the acid and stone became rough to the touch instead of smooth. I didn’t mind the black because it really brought out the color from gray and white to that deep black. Will try 1 day sugar and 8hour acid and see how those results come out. I do appreciate you getting back to me!
Good plan. I should mention that if you treat it as you said, if it only turns gray, it likely will not ever turn black. I showed some gray ones in a recent video that were treated 9-10 times. Treating matrix is additive!
Espetacular maravilha da natureza 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Eu concordo, Simone!
May I ask, I appreciate your busy but hope you'll reply, is there a particular name for the kind of matrix opal that is more towards the pixelated look (you had one that was not the colors I liked that you had difficulty getting focused in and said "it is kind of hard to appreciate") ?
I think that what you are looking for is the name of the pattern in opal (both solid and matrix) that consists of regularly-spaced glitter-like color(?) That is referred to as "pin-fire." Does that help?
what a pretty cab you have ,seam cristal or something
That's a fascinating observation, Marco! It might look like seam crystal, but it's actually a unique opal cabochon. Opals have a way of surprising us with their beauty. 😄🌟
Sir. i have blackopal andamoka stone from australia. measuring 66.19 crat. but the results are still less shiny. how to shine and what to do. Thank you sir. I am from Indonesia, Surabaya
some mossy and flagstone mixed with some floral, just awesome stones
Mossy and flagstone mixed with floral patterns in opals can indeed be awe-inspiring, Marco. Mother Nature's artwork at its finest! 😄🌿🌸
That last piece is 😍😍😍😍😍
I bought some local but they look translucent until you get them in the right light and with something behind them then they show a lot of color will doing a treatment on it help bring them colors out
Can you show us the procedures to have opal been treated?
What is the value of a treated slice like that?
would you tell me the treatment?chemical, processing time, and how to treat it(is it boiled or burned or.......). please...........
Hope do I contact you on cutting a special stone?
Where can i buy this kind of opals?
Hello, do you sell these wonderful stones? Thank you.
@@PulitzerOpal Thank you much for your reply. I am at work now but will look on eBay later. I would only be interested in buying a larger slab to cut, polish etc for a pendant for myself. I see the high prices and may not be able to afford such a piece. I will email you soon and please let me know if you would consider selling a larger slice. I must say these are really special stones. Thanks again.
Looks like a big wedge of cheese; is there such a thing as rainbow/opal-cheese? You cld have it with agate-lettuce...
Whay arr the ingredients for treating the andomooka opals ??
do you know a good site to buy from or do you sell them?
Does the enhanced colour of treated opal deteriorate over time? It is really beautiful colour that's for sure!