The rollercoaster of a high-risk rough opal piece 

This is actually a very beautiful gem.. I think the teardrop shape is very appropriate for this one.. I think it almost made you cry.

Justin, that is SUCH a beautiful stone, though! Just because it's not as big, or black as you expected...doesnt make it a failure. Look at the colors and patterns before you. You said it best: "Let's look on the bright side". Well, you've got a bright side of the stone, staring you in the face. You could have ended up with nothing. It's gorgeous, and you did an amazing job. Truly.

Would make the most amazing teardrop cabochon style pendant. And at almost 6 carats, still very substantial! Love the big flashes of yellows and orange next to the green.

You know what, I wouldn't know an opal if I fell on it. And yet every time I see you on my feed I watch the process. You relay your passion like a true artist and you show the good and bad of your discoveries. You and your partner produce a quality vid and you are both great ambassadors for our unique and wonderful country.

This would make a beautiful pendant.😍

That one was quite a Challenge ! It did turn out beautifully in spite of all the sand and size loss . You showed us all your great Patience and Persistence . I must say I believe that final shape was the best shape I've seen . Very Elegant and Delicate .

Absolutely brilliant. The shape is spectacular, so unique. Never seen an opal cut like that, and after having to cut so much. Should be at least $2500 a CT. Definite win! You are a artist.

I love that you follow the natural shape, like a long tear drop, it's stunning and refreshing to see this shape emerge.

This should be labeled- man takes palm sized exciting potential and creates teardrop. I saw a dolphin pendant in the making. It wasn’t what you expected but it has some very nice color.

That's a very sweet gem. There is no failure here. You extracted the very gem that rough had to offer. Too often we get our mind locked into the outcome we want rather than just searching for the actual best possible outcome that presents itself. You did this very well.

I like this “candle flame” cut opal. Very nice piece.

It will be set into a pendant and will be treasured for generations. It is really beautiful. Probably mother to daughter. Antiques Road Show here it comes.

I think it turned out absolutely gorgeous. I love it. Opal is my daughter's, Momma's and MawMaw's birthstone. It's one of my favorite stones for sure. I have a beautiful opal ring I got for a high school graduation gift from my parents back in 1983. It's oval and domed with 3 diamonds on both sides of it set in white gold. I have always treasured it. My daughter will get it one day.

I love the unique shape this opal wanted to be. Good thing it had Justin there to bring it into the world! If I had an extra 5K laying around, I'd say box her up & send her to me! This stone is perfect for someone who wants something beautiful yet different! You could see this beauty set in a pendant, like a magical jewel around your neck, or a long knuckle to knuckle index finger ring...the possibilities are endless! Well done J! ❤❤❤

So much skill and knowledge you have. The shape compliments the stone.

I know 2 years ago but that opal is beautiful none the less. Pendant for sure!!

"Not too bad," because of your skill. Beautiful!

There is something poetic about taking away the sandy bits until something beautiful emerges. This shape is so unique and this gem had a lot of ugly bits but a beautiful heart inside. 😍 I like it.

One of the BEST videos so far! [imo] I really enjoy this longer kind of vid as the sound of the grandmaster's voice + the soft grinding of the wheel is BLISS!! 10/10

Not even a trained eye could find the edge of my seat.

I love that final gem.. shape and Color and the whole dramatic jurney through the dessert of sand. 😅👏💚

Wow, your patience paid off, genius. And to not lose anything, brilliant. Your are special.

It was indeed a roller coaster. The final stone was beautiful. You needed a sand wedge to work on it. Keep the great information coming. We love seeing your smiling face. Be happy, safe and stay healthy. 😷⚒

Beautiful gem...you took the time...had the patience...to find the magic buried beneath...fantastic job!! 😊

As someone who shies away from from the conventional and likes but does not love the regular opal shapes I have to say that that stone is one of the most enchanting pieces of opal I've seen cut on RU-vid to date.

Every time I watch you do this I feel like I'm watching you put money in a paper shredder. The final product is always amazing.

You can never stop learning ,Without Bod and Justins teachings 👍👌🙏

i would not be disappointed- that's still a thing of tremendous beauty, and you patiently made the best of a challenging piece.

After so much suffering you got a beautiful rainbow tear, congratulations.

This really make you appreciate the time, effort, patience, risk, money and energy that goes into this...

What a pleasure to watch a true artist at work. I was on that roller coaster there with you & at one point I wanted to grab my metal rust & paint removing "sand blaster " & "zap" that bloody sand away for you. I think you created a beautiful "pendant" opal which highlighted the full spectrum of colours that were in that stone. That shape is reminiscent of many of the early Victorian era emerald necklaces of that time. Ya got me Justin, I'm subscribing.

nooo justin i love it when you call it a torch plz dont stop!

Shape reminds me of a fishing lure. My mom would love it.

That is a gorgeous result and at least, not at a monetary loss. Great narrative too. Thank you. 👍

Justin, your magic fingers created a gorgeous piece

I was feeling your emotional roller coaster ride as well but I was amazed at the beauty you ended up with.

Don't be discouraged. You never know but what this stone will have the love of someone and the best life story ever.

It's beautiful, glad you got your money back, not a total loss, that profit fairy will come around lol.

If what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, then where are my super powers! Another excellent episode.

I have been watching for 4 hrs..now. Love what you are doing. memories. We used to sell in quartzite.

What a beauty! Way to make the most out of it Justin. I love your message with a less than ideal cut... make the most of what you have every day. : )

As an alternative, you could say "What does not kill me will eventually." I am way too jaded for my own good. You do great work. Let's say "If it is not there, Jason will find it any way."

I love these, I’ve been watching for ages but never comment. I like that piece. It kind of makes me think of a compass needle; imagine that spinning to face north and all the colors catching the light.

Hello Justin, thank you for the video, I am an emerald cabochon cutter here in Colombia and was amazing not only for the frustration with the stone, which frecuently happen here, but also for the feelings those stones generates, we share this challenging cases. On other hand I love your t-shirt, regards

The stone determined the shape and size of the gem you have achieved. Like dancing, sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow. Beautiful stone.

I love the cinematic feel of this video.

You managed to turn out a lovely stone - in fact, as you were talking about it you said what was going through my mind, it’s pleasing. I like the shape of it, very nice drop. Well done Justin!

Sorry it didn't work out quite as you wanted, but it's very pretty. I love the shape.

Beautiful! The shape and pattern of the play of color flash brings to mind a Betta fish or a fancy Koi fish!

Very nice looking piece. I think you did it justice and got the best out of it. It has been hidden for millions of years, unchanged. What you hope it might be has no effect on what it will be. It is what it is.

I think it is exquisite. Even though it's not what you wanted, there are so many beautiful colors and the teardrop shape turned out perfect. It would be a beautiful necklace !!

Thanks so much for sharing this more difficult and frustrating cut! I was so sorry to see you frustrated and disappointed; however, if it’s any consolation, I thought it was spectacularly beautiful, and one of my favorite stones I’ve seen you cut so far !!!🙌🏼🤩🙏🏼😊

I applaud you for your patience Justin. Seemed very frustrating but I love how you didn't just throw in the towel & toss it in the sand jar. When life hands you sand you still managed to make stunning opal. True mark of an expert with the patience & restraint you showed. Love the shape as well. 👏👏👏💚💙🧡💛❤️

Absolutely love the end product ❤️ different shape and quite pleasing

Hell with the gem. Your words of cherishing what you have and not taking life for granted - all of your quotes... Who knew I'd find inspiration from an opal video. Thank you.

It’s very pretty and your patience is admirable.

Crazy roller coaster ride alright! But, takes a fine artist to not throw in the towel and keep focused and carry on! What a beautiful piece in the end. It would look fantastic in a necklace horizontal!

I know you were hoping for a huge stone, but I love the tear drop. It's lovely. It would make for a great pendant or even bracelet piece. You made lemonade. Smiles

I like this form and such elegance with the colours!

So so true, what you say at the end, dont be regretting what you didn't do, take courage, do something that scares you every day.

Agonizing! But that stone gave you exactly what you could actually see, plus the roller coaster ride. Reminds me of an old boyfriend.

Justin, that is a little beauty of a stone! Lovely - Great Job!!

Even though I could feel your disappointment from here lol, I love that you are still light-hearted about it and find a way to look at the bright side. It's really nice to watch someone who can show you the downs along with the ups but doesn't let it change how they act, it's a very good example that you set for those watching you! P.S. The stone still turned out BEAUTIFUL! Loved it!

Wowsers!!! I love these sort of videos. Only through Justin's expertise and experience, a gem was cut. This video proves again how your a master in your field, and the years of experience shine through. Thank you for sharing Justin and thank you Black Opal Direct. Your not too humble to show the not so great gems, although in the end this one was a winner. Until next week..........

my tiny Cooper peady stone has been loved and cherished for years.

I realize this is an old video but goodness did this one turn out gorgeous! 😍 What a beauty! ❤️

"Glitter tear drop"! Glad you at least broke even!

Geez...I fought back tears. But the final shape is great. Love it!

That turned out to be a beautiful stone! I love the shape. It would make a great necklace!

That 90 grit wheel is a beast, you can see little lumps flying off of the stone. It must be so easy to overdo it.

This is awful. I am an an impatient person. I want it NOW. Lol. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Greetings from Dimboola in Victoria, Australia. Greetings to all the regular veiwers, too. We know who we are. Been a great way to meet people that I have never met. I'll get there one day.

Even in rough form, absolutely stunning, great lighting. Looks like stressful work where “ops “! wouldn’t want to be heard,as same in a operating room.

I think this is one of my favourites tbh, I absolutely love the shape!!!

Lovely colour, great shape , you uncovered a beautiful gem.

That flash of orange 🧡.. beautiful stone.

I'm sorry, I think this is the coolest shape and one of the nicest shapes you've ever done on a stone and the color patterns are cool

I really like opals, but because they are expensive, I can only admire and enjoy their beauty. 🙏 greetings from Indonesia 🙏

I see a beautiful teardrop necklace for some lucky person! Love it!

Sorry it didn't turn out to be that mega carat stone. But boy, that thing would be an absolute beautiful pendant!

Ya know what I like to say to myself in situations like this? If a little kid saw that opal, they’d probably say something like “Woah! I can’t believe you made something like that!” Screw the final value, you are doing amazing things bringing opals to people like this.

The opal needle! Magnificent!

It’s the shape of the tears you almost cried cutting it! 😂 It turned out gorgeous!! I’m so glad you didn’t give up and kept cutting, the sand put up a fight but it didn’t beat you

Its a very pretty stone, if i was given a ring with that id be absolutly over the moon. You really made the best of it!

Just found your channel few months ago! And absolutely love it! Love watching you cut these beautiful stones! This was a fun one!thanks for sharing! God bless!

What a waste to lose so much of that stone. You navigated that stone really well, your experience in this matter brought you fortunate gem. Very professional a true craftsman you are...

It's good to see this part of the Gem bussiness, not everything comes out roses and cream. People don't. see the investment you made with that rough gem ,and got out what you did . Thnx for sharing the good and. the bad !

Thank you very much for this video. Wonderful stone

You didn’t let it beat you and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about!

See? Lemonade after all. Lot of lemon to make it, but some is better than none. It could have ended up in the jar, but not today. Our failures and struggles are just as important to our growth, if not more so, as success. This is how we learn to cope with difficulty and use our creativity and experience to bring a positive outcome. Good job!

Beautiful. Thank you for posting.

It's actually nice to know you deal with some absolute trashy sand filled stones. only seeing the amazing hits belies the efforts you face cutting and facing many opals

I think it is very pleasing to the eye.......well done!

What amazing colour, that is a shape I would invest in, ovals are everywhere, long drop shapes are so beautiful and rare..

Emotional roller coaster; indeed! You bought the ticket and you were full of excited potential, then it was "wtf?" Then it was, "hope" and then, well, you get the point. You lived it after all. As did I and I imagine most of we viewers. Personally Justin, I love that drop effect and think it would make an amazing pendant, brooch or even a single earring for the right person. I love the lessons we learn watching you even if they cause you some anguish. Though breaking even is better than not. Obviously.

Absolutely stunning opal! If I had $5k to spend on anything I wanted this would be at the top of that list!

Oh I love this piece, it's so special ! Although you had a rough time with it, it turned out beautiful. So sad I never could afford it.....BUT as I worked as a goldsmith I had a chance to get a piece of rough opal with a small vein in it and all the time I see you cutting I would love to get on a machine like yours to see whats in it. I love this kind of work - is that crazy??? Can watch you for hours! Thanks sooo much for filming the process of opal cutting. Much love from Austria

I have been watching your videos a few weeks now. I love watching you work. 🙂

Holy cow when you first showed that stone, it looked like it was going to be a real winner. It just goes to show that there's more to buying and selling opal than meets the eye. Everything is a gamble, the more you ground into that sand the more depressed I got lol but then I've seen you succeed more times than you failed

I love this flame shape opal. So unique

The most gorgeous flop I’ve ever seen. Thank you for taking us through the polishing stage. ❤️