I spent $30,000 on this rough parcel of
opal and this was the only stone that was in the parcel. G'day and welcome to Black Opal Direct, my name's Justin HI, I'm Melinda. Welcome to Black Opal Direct! No, that's my line! Well you're not doing a very good job so move over! It's my show... Oh crap Here's your cup of tea
Thank you Well sorry about that guys that was
Melinda's idea That was not my idea that was yours! Well please give Melinda a warm welcome She's new to the team and we're
gonna be seeing a lot more of her and she's got a lot more talent than just
putting me in my place We'd love your support in the comments and if you haven't already please hit subscribe or like our videos so today we're going to
talk about a few of my collection stones that I've kept for many years and some
of them has some really cool stories to them so Melinda's gonna ask me a few
questions about them and I'm gonna let you know because I love opal so much
that I've kept some for many years and there's some really nice fine stories
behind them and that's what becomes heirlooms is something that has a lot of
history to it and that's what I'm trying to create with my family and my son for
the future Okay let's start with this one Where did you get this one from? This one is probably one of my two top most cherished stones This one was in my Dad's collection 40 years ago and I always had my eye on it because it's one
of the best crystal opals I've ever seen it's so clear and it's double-sided and
the pattern just reminds me of my Dad you know every time I was little and I
would say Dad can you get your collection out and I look at it I'd
always pick this stone up and it was just so precious to me that even today
when he's now passed away I look at it and I see him every single time and it's
so precious I will never sell this one ever ever ever That's beautiful.
Where does this one come from? Well this one is one of my biggest learning curves in life. When I was working for my Dad he was an opal cutter back in the early
days and we were buying parcels of opal and my Dad said, and I think I was
about 20, he said I think it's time for you to go to Lightning Ridge
by yourself and buy your first parcel of opal and so I went up there and I saw
some opal miners and they had a big tray of opal rough opal sitting there and
this piece was glinting out of out of one of the pieces of rough opal and I
thought there's enough money in there it's got to be great and I spent $30,000
on this rough parcel of opal and this was the only stone that was in the
parcel so I was a bit I was a bit upset but I did also decide because it's one
of the most top crystals I've ever found I decided to keep it to remind me of
that that very time and it is one of the biggest learning curves I could have
ever gone through so I do cherish this stone too so I will be keeping this one
and handing it to my son later on in life What did your Dad say? He shook his head, he shook his head
and he said that's how you learn That's a very expensive lesson It is an expensive lesson but I think
everybody who takes a risk in life you always make mistakes and you
don't learn until you make those mistakes Yeah, until you make the really big ones. The doozies. That's a precious one to me now This is my favorite so far,
tell me about this one Well this one came out of the same pocket in a field called The Three Mile Field up in a lightning region now this one is
also 40 years old and was in my Dad's collection too and it is probably the most red and brightest crystal I've ever owned so my Dad let me
put it in a pinky ring it's a little bit tight on me nowadays but I still are
cherishes how much and it sits right alongside that gorgeous crystal opal
that my Dad had in his collection he also had black opals in his collection
but I'm a I'm a bit partial to crystals because they just have so much depth
it's crazy especially when you get them double sided
the 3D I have a thing about 3D patterning and I've mentioned it a lot
in my in my videos but it really means a lot to me and I just love to see color
on color it's the best And what about this one? Well this one is quite special and it's probably the most
recent to my collection this some I have named the stone Riverview because I used
to get supply of opal from a man called Dave and Dave was a very good friend and
as we decided to, he got unfortunately got cancer, and as we decided to make a
deal on this last parcel of opal he died in the process and I managed to still be
able to pay him for them for the parcel and we we did business but unfortunately
Dave has gone and I had a cheers for Dave when I went barramundi
fishing up the top end in Darwin and I miss him greatly he's a great guy and so
I've named this stone and I'm keeping this in my collection and it's
called Riverview where he lived. It's so cool that all of the different stones
signify a person Yes that's exactly right Let's get one of the darker ones, is this a black opal? That is definitely, well this
one was it was probably about seven years ago it was shown to me in a rough piece and there is a video on youtube of me cutting this stone and I
didn't expect it to be as bright and as strong as this and the reason why I kept
this stone is because in black opal my favorite colors are blue and green and
when they are this bright because I love fishing, I love the ocean, I love the
forest, I love everything about those colors are part of my life so I had to
keep this thing because it's just so strong and if I ever get another ring made that will be the choice A boss ring let's go into another one, does this one mean anything to you? Actually this one probably means
the least in the lot but it's just because the green in it was so unique
and the darkness is so unique and it's got a high dome to it really nice cut I
decided to just to keep it out because sometimes you just find stones that
just speak to you and this one definitely spoke to me and every time I
look at it I just think wow how different that is from every other stone
so I am inclined to keep that one I might sell it later down
in the track but yeah I just love it because it's just different, really
different And seeing so many stones across the years, when something calls out to you, you have to hold onto it. Well my wife actually had happened to her, she saw a boulder opal not a black opal but a boulder once upon a time and
she really wanted to buy it but then decided not to and for the last 15 years
she's brought up that boulder opal saying that she missed out and that was
the one that she really wanted and it spoke to her say if you if you ever do
have an opal that actually speaks to you do your best to to snap it up if you can
afford it because they don't come along very often when you get a stone that
really, really, really grabs you by the heart Are there any ones like that
for you, any ones that got away? There is many. Yeah, I couldn't really
pinpoint one but yeah there is many over the years that I actually couldn't
afford yeah didn't have the money to just go here you go I'll take that yeah
because some of the better gems are just so sublime but they they fetch quite
high prices and my collection is something that I've built up over the
years and there is quite a lot of value to it and it is I guess also to me it's
like a separate superannuation fund I slowly build on it and I like to see
those things grow and so there is some value there and hopefully I won't be
selling them all when I decide I'm retiring and that's not for a long time
so don't worry Yeah I only just started! I'm sorry I'm leaving I'm going on a
world trip, you have to look after the place. Well, yeah, I'm staying here. Well, I reckon that's enough. If you actually like what we're doing and talking about stones a little bit more history about
the opal we can go through the stock as well that's online and I can talk about
where these opals come from in Lightning Ridge If you like this kind of thing let
us know in the comments that would be really cool. It's always nice to have the
emotional connection or the story behind the stones I think that makes it mean a lot more. Yep and it does. Whenever somebody sends me a picture of their opal that's come from their family they usually tell me a
story - and that's so they always have some kind of a story and we
cut the stone and we make it beautiful but the real story comes from when that
stone is sold and gone to another family and then it goes through generations
that's when the real story starts Also if you have any burning questions that you want to know you let us know because we can also make a video because I can
guarantee your question there's thousands of other people asking the
same question too, so let us know in the comments or send us a private message
whichever way you'd like to do it and make sure you subscribe it really it
really is appreciated Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time! That's my line!
