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Author Topic: Okay, What would you do with this?  (Read 3673 times)

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irockhound

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Okay, What would you do with this?
« on: April 16, 2020, 11:06:34 AM »

As most of you know I came into that collection from an old realtor friend and part of that I got about 6 gallons of trimmed and rough Spencer Opal.  Going thru it there was a lot of faced material he had already lapped down to the fire layers.  The collection was 2 halves and I had only gotten the first half.  The second half was in sterilite totes and was according to him "the good stuff".  Well they had family disputes and it looked like the 2nd half would never materialize.  He had a heart attack and told his daughter to get me the 2nd half.  It was an amazing treasure hunt going thru the buckets and I will have to post what I got in another thread.  The crazy thing and the point of this post is there were 2 large maybe 8 - 10 gallon totes with large rough and slabs and small pieces mixed.  At the bottom under lots and large rough was this opal, already backed and capped but not cut.  It is the wildest I have seen so far from all his Spencer material, BUT it has flaws, BUT look at the size! and I will tell you the pictures do not come close to showing the brilliance or colors in this piece.  It still has one piece of the white Spencer Matrix on one end and a dark area where cutting the layer paper thin he couldn't get rid of the darker area.  The pattern  OMG it is an amazing piece
1) Cut smaller cleaner cabs from it?
2) keep it as large as possible to show how amazing the total stone was?
3) get rid of larger flaws like the 2 end fractures and live with the faint "craze fractures"

Just don't know what to do and it seems like this is a pretty significant stone and don't want to screw up doing the wrong thing.  Size is 1 7/8" x 1 1/16"
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Opal Mike

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2020, 06:53:44 PM »

Thank you for posting this. I have not seen this material before. I have seen some American opal years ago but not this material.

I would just about call that pattern ‘Mackeral Sky’, which is pretty rare.

If it were my piece I think I would polish it as is and leave it as a specimen, so the full pattern can be appreciate..I have no idea how it would cut, or or behave on the wheel.

Is it hard? Does the opal stay on the host rock?

What is the host rock?

Pardon my ignorance.

I would love to see more!

Mike
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vitzitziltecpatl

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2020, 06:55:16 PM »

Okay - I'll bite... .

Sounds like you got so much good material that I might just keep that one as one large piece - at least for a while. As you say, it's impressive as it is, and if you cut it up you'll have a number of really nice smaller pieces. But you'd lose the overall effect of the whole.

Maybe you could have more fun cutting some of the other rough and trying to come up with one just as nice. Without the flaws.

Around here we sometimes say "We can't cut that one until we get a better one... ."

Felicia

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2020, 07:09:41 PM »

Never saw that pattern before, or Spencer opal in fact. Cool, unique.
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Opal Mike

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2020, 07:19:38 PM »

“Can’t cut that one until you get a better one” (Vince 2020 right here)...I love that!
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2020, 08:13:28 PM »

My gut says don't cut it.  Leave it as it and just polish up the cap to make that thing shine.  Put it on display and smile every time you see it.  Hopefully Bobby1 will pop in on this thread and put in his two cents.  He did an article in Rock and Gem on Spencer triplets and cut a stone out of a piece that is pretty similar.  I have a hunch that this pattern is not all that common in Spencer opal, at least I never saw one before.  Here's a link to Bobby's article:

https://www.rockngem.com/spencer-opal-triplets/

P.S.  Opal Mike is spot on when he says that it looks like Mackeral Sky pattern in Aussie opal.
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Robin

irockhound

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2020, 09:24:00 PM »

Perfect, I was leaning that way myself.  Intact it will stay.  Too amazing a pattern to make into smaller pieces and lose some of the effect.  Someone else mentioned the red Spencer's and going thru the latest material there was a super color layer right on top of a red band background so it has the red base with multicolor fire on top.  I can't describe how many pieces of faced opal and 3/16 color bars I found under the piles of rough.  Almost like someone went thru it and didn't know what they were looking at and just tossed it all back into a big container.
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Opal Mike

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2020, 09:57:43 PM »

If you guys have the time and the inclination....I would really like to see more photos of all your Spencer Opal...rough and cut. As I said before, I haven’t really seen it before.
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Felicia

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2020, 11:45:55 AM »

Well, if you must cut it, maybe one large freeform using all possible of the stripey area, a smaller one out of the upper left, and a third from the lower left. Only if you feel you must. It's a great display piece just as it is. I probably have too much stuff as display pieces, like them as they are.
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vitzitziltecpatl

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #9 on: April 19, 2020, 02:41:49 PM »

Mike - here are photos of a Spencer specimen I bought some years ago. First one shows the chunk, and how this opal formed in vugs.

Green color is with sun over the shoulder. Pink is with rough between sun and camera in same relative orientation to the sun as the second photo. The face has been polished.

Ryaly2dogs

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2020, 02:59:37 PM »

What would I do with it? 

Bolo tie...And wear it proudly!
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Opal Mike

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2020, 03:21:41 AM »

Really nice specimen Vince. Interesting that the pinfire pattern shifts from pinky red to green exactly the same as Coober Pedy pinfire milky material.
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gemfeller

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #12 on: April 21, 2020, 12:36:40 PM »

Here's a couple of Spencer triplets I cut long ago.  They're both large stones, the multicolor measures 26 x 21.5 mm. and the green flash 22 x 19 mm.  Finding color bars large enough to cut those sizes in Spencer is unusual, at least in my experience.  I cut a lot of it back in the 1990s when I lived in Idaho, but gave most of my cabs away. 

I knew the guys who owned the mine and was able to get a rare cat's-eye and a star opal triplet from them.  So far as I can learn, both phenomena are unique to the Spencer material, but quite rare.  Here's a GIA lab report on Idaho star stones:  https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research-star-opal

Spencer 1.jpg
*Spencer 1.jpg (115.9 kB . 600x593 - viewed 282 times)
Spencer 2.jpg
*Spencer 2.jpg (201.5 kB . 600x562 - viewed 273 times)   
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gemfeller

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #13 on: April 21, 2020, 12:46:48 PM »

Note: before someone points out that the star opal referenced above is not an Idaho stone, mea culpa.  I gave it a quick read and thought it was from Idaho.

The Idaho stars and cat's-eyes appear only in triplets but as I understand from another paper by J.V. Sanders, the opal structure is the same as discussed in the GIA report.  Idaho produces 3-ray and 6-ray stars.  I own one of the 3-ray stones.
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Felicia

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #14 on: April 21, 2020, 08:44:32 PM »

Sounds really unique!
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irockhound

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #15 on: April 21, 2020, 10:21:52 PM »

Wow very impressive Rick.  You always amaze me.
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2020, 06:29:03 AM »

Those are really yummy triplets, Rick.  Almost makes me want to go through tedious chore of lapping down some Spencer to try and find a good one.  Almost.
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Robin

gemfeller

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #17 on: April 22, 2020, 09:31:33 AM »

Those are really yummy triplets, Rick.  Almost makes me want to go through tedious chore of lapping down some Spencer to try and find a good one.  Almost.
Yeah, the "almost" factor is what stops me from cutting some I have left from years ago.  Lots of time and labor for a very uncertain payoff.  Still, when they're good the can be very good.
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gemfeller

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #18 on: April 22, 2020, 09:33:52 AM »

Wow very impressive Rick.  You always amaze me.
Thanks Steve - and I return the compliment.  Your work is amazing and I'm flabbergasted at the great creations you produce.  Keep on with the carving.  You have skills.
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ileney

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #19 on: April 22, 2020, 10:17:38 AM »

Wow! That is absolutely amazing! I would also call that a mackerel pattern. That's probably the best Spencer I've ever seen. I guess I'd decide if I wanted to wear it or just display it, and if I wanted to wear it, I'd cut off the large fracture and whitespot at the end, but keep it otherwise intact. If I wanted to display it, I would not cut anything off. Either way, I'd definitely keep that one and not sell it or give it to anyone but an immediate family member. It's too special!
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irockhound

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #20 on: April 22, 2020, 09:41:14 PM »

Thanks Rick, I take any compliments from you with your background and skill highly. 

I am taking the advice most gave and keep it whole as a specimen.

No cabs today, I decided my floor has developed a black hole and is disappearing and the material is filling the void.  When it gets hard to walk thru the shop time to get cleaning.  I have found that I don't have enough vertical space for totes to keep material separated by type and location.  I have started shifting material around and taking things I don't use often out to the tiny shed in the back yard.  I'll make a post when I finish cleaning to the point it is somewhat workable.
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irockhound

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Re: Okay, What would you do with this?
« Reply #21 on: April 24, 2020, 02:23:49 PM »

I forgot to respond to the question of backing material, He used black jade for all backings.
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