We find opal in Lightning Ridge - The gem of my dreams 

Love this video. Thanks for taking us with you. Hope your son is healing up nicely.

Poor kid, hope the recovery is going well!

Such an awesome video. So much enjoy seeing the journey. It hard to imagine the experience of finding such beautiful material there. Thank you for sharing this adventure. That shell was incredible!

father and son, such a wonderful connection you have. My goodness, hope his back heal nicely! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see how the new stones turn out.

Get well soon young Saxon. That must be hard for a young man to handle being limited like that. All the best to you and nice work on those gems. You have a fantastic teacher in your father. I was very interested to see what Lightning Ridge was like because I had heard about it from a young age and all my life I have wondered what it would be like to visit, so thank you for showing us how amazingly talented the people are. That art gallery with all the carvings was amazing and so were all the other sculptures. So clever. 😀

I’ve only just come across this video - can’t imagine how I missed it! But just sending Saxon good wishes, and hopethat his recovery is going well. He’s certainly got a great support network!

This was so much fun to watch, thanks for the video Justin and Co. :)

great cuts, Saxon!

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, i hope your son has a good recovery. 👍🏻 👋❤️

Justin, I really enjoyed the trip to lighting Ridge, that would be a nice vacation to visit! The two opals you got are amazing looking forward to see you cut them, my Lamborghini moves fast going home like that!! Ha Ha! Hope your son gets better soon. Take care. Leo ✌️

Hope Saxon doesn't have too much longer in that brace, although it reminds me of medieval armor. He could always say he broke his back jousting rather than flipping his dirt bike. 😀Thanks to Tamika for sharing the driving, so you could make this video.

You got me into opals years ago bro, beautiful gems, greetings from Mexico!!!

Thank you Justin for the adventure , seeing some Opal mines and beautiful scenery ! Praying that Saxon is healing well , will soon be up and going again ! Saxon is coming along pretty well with cutting and polishing Opals !

nice family bonding and friends as well. Hope to visit Lighning Ridge one day.

Thanks for letting us tag alone on this trip. It’s so cool your son has a big interest in learning your amazing trade. I’m sure you have spent many quality times together over Opals.

I love it to justin.last time i was there, my young fella was so sick i spent most of the time in the hospital. And the nurse was one of the nicest people i ever met

Car door tour was good. We enjoyed noodling with the kids. Good times….

My wife and I love your awesome videos!

If these gems had the hardness of a diamond, they would definitely not be underrated, but as they are, they're the most beautiful for sure

Thanks for the show; greetings from Granby, Colorado!

Opal truly is the most beautiful gemstone IMO, and such variety too! Diamonds are so boring in comparison, they should stick to industrial and scientific uses, for which they are great. Wishing your son a speedy recovery! I cannot imagine how stressful that must have been as a parent.

Gotta get a personal plane ya keep making those long trips lol. Nice vid with great people and some awsome stones🤘 Hope kiddo gets well soon 👍

Bloody marvellous ❤

I was hoping you make a video like this so thank you ❤❤❤

Thanks for the vid and hope the back is getting better look forward to the next vid

Sorry to hear about Saxon's back. I broke mine a few years ago and it's no picnic. Get better bud!

Sad to see your son broken. Hopefully he gets perfect. Love your show.

Been looking for a crystal shell for ages. That one is a beautiful fossil. ❤

Deep Yellow Crystal is money ♥️ the risen sun in a stone

Been a dream/wish of mine forever to get to Aussie.

For the people interested a summary of the opal formation and some additional little facts: Opal is a natural form of glass and consists of Silica spheres, in Lightening Ridge three specific requirements need to be met for it to form. These exact "ingredients" can differ from location to location depending on the geology where you are in the world. The first ingredient in Lightning ridge is a sedimentary deposit of sand that turns into sandstone over millions of years, this is a permeable layer where water can seep through, and it is the source of the silica. Below the sandstone is a layer of clay rich sediment "the opal bearing clays", the clay is practically impermeable to water, and if water can get into it, it can sit there for a long period, this is the second requirement. The third ingredient is the presence of cavities in the clay, either cracks or cavities left by fossils. If the conditions are just right water seeps through the sandstones, dissolves some of the silica from the sand and gets trapped in the cavities in the clay layers. If the water sits there for long enough, the dissolved silica will precipitate out of the water and will form opal. All of these ingredients need to line up perfectly and this is quite rare making opal as rare as it is. When opal precipitates in cracks it will form 'Seam opal', if it precipitates in cavities formed by fossil remains it will form nodules or "Nobbies". If opal fills the entire cavity left by fossils you can even have exact casts of the organism that lived millions of years ago, examples are opal shells, opal belemnites, opal pinecones and opal shark teeth. Not all opal will show the magnificent colors we see in the stones Justin cuts his beautiful gems from. Most opal will be grey, white, colorless or black and is called Potch. If the silica spheres that opal consists of are the right size and precipitate in the right patterns, the opal will show the bright colors we see in the world renowned Lightning Ridge Opal. The size of the silica spheres actually dictates the colors we see in the opal, where the size that creates red is the rarest and therefore the color red in opal makes the stone more valuable. If the colors are in a stone with black Potch the gem is called a black Opal, and when the colors show red it is what Justin calls "Red on Black" which is one of the rarest gemstones in the world.

Fantastic video!! Thank you, Justin 😊

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope when my daughter will be 12 she is 10 years old now. We can come to Australia to visit you and mine opal this is the real dream

Hope they young fella gets his back sorted no good hard job to learn enjoy

Hey, great videos I have been learning how to cut and polish! I have a question, where can I get an Opal color chart thing😂 thanks 🙏

Excellent

Great vid and informative

Justin, you always come through with good lessons and beautiful stones. Just one question ..... what nice stone did you get me while you were there? 😂 Can't blame a guy for trying 😊

Nice and green there atm😊

Hard to see Saxon kinda down like that. I thought we would see Justin doing some work with a pickaxe or mining somehow at least but looks like the two you brought back are probably better than anything you would dig up?

Rolf harris , the famous Australian ... born 1 mile from where i was born in dowlais merthyr tdfil south wales ..... but you can have him :-)

Bars over Rolf Harris 😂😂😂

Sup, Justin, the first opal in your hand after meeting back up with Dave, will you shoot me a price in the form it's in now?

The opal molar.

Drop everything !! B.O.D. just posted a new vid, "COOL" a road trip, hold my beer.

Broken back?? How!?

❤❤😊

I’ve missed something ! You so casually mention your son has a broken back ! 😢

🎉❤🥰💯👏

Could you improve it?

Please stop putting ther money shot into rhe intro. Im here watching, im invested, now i know what the big surprise looks like within the first 10 seconds. Now i don't watch all way to end. Dont fall into the tv show formula. They are always doing it.

It's so good watching the young fella learn what your father taught you.

Glad to see you and Tamika survived the opal field and the drive to and from. Glad to see your son up. Loved the stones and his work too.

I love these field trips.

I loved this video. Reminds me of my time in Lightning Ridge (where I also had the pleasure of meeting you Justin!) The chambers of the black hand is a fantastic attraction, along with all its other quirks like the castle, the emu's, the paintings on the buildings in town, the bore baths...I could go on forever. I agree, it's the best place on planet earth. Thank you for sharing Justin

Here’s to wishing Saxon a quick and speedy recovery! A broken back is serious business for sure. I absolutely can’t wait for the day I get to visit your country. Traveling to Australia and visiting places like Lightening Ridge and Coober Peedy is #1 on my bucket list 🤞. Justin sir, you were able to score some absolute rippers and I can’t wait for the new videos of them being brought to life by you. God Bless and cheers to you all !

I hope you're healing up well, Saxon!! Be glad it's winter and not summer, with you having to wear that turtle shell for your broken back!! My grandmother broke her back at the end of spring one year and had to wear the same type of brace all summer long!! With humidity factors going into the mid to high +40C's!! She was miserable!! I can't wait to see you turn that Opal into a stunning gem, Justin! Your friend, the Retired Paramedic and Horse Trainer in Ontario, Canada, Jenn 💖 🇨🇦

Saxton I Hope you know that everything happens for a reason and God has a calling for you young man. I went throught something very simular. I pray that you find the reason during this time. Blessing and speedy recovery🙏🏾

So excited I’ve been watching for years wanting to get my daughter her birthstone! Finally today I was able to get her an opal from you!!! Wasn’t the best one as I couldn’t afford the one I would love to buy her but so happy to finally get her one! I’ve been so in love with opals for a long time! Still searching for one here as we do have opals in Louisiana but they are hard to find it seems. In a sandstone like matrix. Just wanted to say thanks for creating a gem suitable for us to afford and be able to make a dream come true!

One of these days, I'll make it to Lightning Ridge. 🤔

Thanks for the vid and Jesus Loves You!

Appreciate the LR tour! Saxon’s skills are improving quickly. Hope he heals up soon. Cheers.

it's great to see father and son looking over some gems special times together ❤

Pinky color=is Fuchsia the color your thinking of?

lovely video, lovely day. thanks, Justin and Tamika.

Why do you live so far from the black opal?

A whole week 😭 but I want to see it now 😢 lol ok I'll be waiting until next week lol

Wow, cannot wait to see those stones finished. Hope you are out of that brace soon Saxon!

I hope you heal up quickly, Saxon!!

Great video. So funny and interesting.

Looking forward to cutting the crystal, gonna be a real ripper of a gem.

Do they have an airport? I dont think I can drive for 9 hours with my bad back.

Thank you for sharing your trip and quick visit to Lightning Ridge. From the looks of the roads I don't think your long, straight, and narrow roads have much on my local roads here in Kansas. 😊 I enjoyed your discussion with your son...at my age (73) I appreciate the generation's sharing and communicating...I try to engage my daughters as much as possible. 😊

6m in and i have to say, that black hand mine is amazing and ive learnt more from the guy talking about how opal forms than ive learned from 11 seasons of opal hunters, despite them telling me how seam opal is formed every single episode lol. Edit...how the heck do...doesn't matter lol hope the youngun mends fast Justin. Good luck.

So Juston mate, Has Saxon decided to join the Biz? Hope so.. There’s nothing like family… 🙌🏻 Get well soon Saxon..👊🏻 The stones are bloody gorgeous..🎉🎉

Huuuuh, 😊 I know Les Hiddens the Bush Tucker man

Awesome

I thought fossil opal was worth a lot of money as a fossil. I heard that somewhere….

:)

Looking forward to seeing the cut video for the two gems. Heal up fast Saxon. Best time to break stuff is when you're young.

Those were some beautiful stones you bought and I love the shell opal!! Not sure what has happened to your son but hope he has a speedy recovery!!! I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

How did Saxon break his back?

Here we go,brew in hand.

Poor Saxon as someone who suffered a couple back injuries and having had surgery I know how hard it is 16 years on I still suffer daily I hope that’s not the case for Saxon 🤞🏻 Justin how did Saxon break his back ? Poor lad looks like he’s suffering badly. Speedy recovery Saxon

I broke my back in my 20’s got drunk and fell off a wall.. Compression fracture T 12. Have arthritis now At 60+ but physical therapy has helped. Good luck you should be fine after it heals.

Sorry about your son's back, I feel his pain. I broke my back in 4 places in 2010 working as a prison guard. Get used to the pain buddy because it never goes away. Learn your limitations and don't push past them. Even the smallest of movement past what you can tolerate will make it feel like you just broke it over and over again. Good luck to you

Ive seen that gem and you did an outstanding work on that amazing fosillike gem. Really brilliant cut!!!!!!

Is there plenty of flies about this time ask JustinaJustin 11:05

Hearty greetings Justin and Saxon and Tamika from Georgian Bay, Ontario. Interesting mine visit - I cannot believe how flat the land is and the type of vegetation as compared to here where I live. Those gems are over the top exciting. Looking forward to watching you work your magic on these. Best wishes to Saxon in healing his spine. :-)

The opals are really nice - especially the black one! Hope Saxon is healing well. Sucks that he couldn't join you for the trip to Lightning Ridge. He's definitely got the Opal cutting gene - he's a natural!

We had a wonderful day in Lightning Ridge 24 years ago. I decided to get some opals while there. Of course we had to get some small triplets for friends as gifts but found one very nice necklace for my wife that was an opal with a lightning shaped piece mounting the opal. Expensive but a fine example to show off to everyone.

Get well soon Saxon, your skills are getting better with the opal cutting you have the best teacher. Justin would you be able to do a video sometime in the future on storing rough and polished opal stones, what’s the best way to keep opal safe what would you recommend. Thanks for another great video.

Great trips lovely gems, and that casual dropped in mention the lad had a broken back... I can't even imagine the drama involved in that one hope he'll be ok, no matter how gruff we are, when our kids get hurt it hits the spot. Best of luck to you both and I hope the recovery and physio goes well.

Saxon, pray you are healing well and don' have too much pain.

nice score on the clam shell,your country has amazing lapidary materials.I enjoy cabbing the hard jaspers,agates and anything else that shows up in the states!

I made a comment a while ago about bring us just this kind of content. A rough shopping trip up to the ridge! Thanks for bringing it so fast. It must have been ini the works already when I brought it up.

I broke T 10 11 and 12 in a four wheeler accident. I was in hospital for three weeks and then in a titanium brace for 9 months. I was 17 years old and had to buy a huge prom dress that would fit around the brace . My heart went out to your son

Justin the drop you showed which you said was 5.90ct but on your website is was 4.9ct is such a beautiful and stunning piece ! a stone worthy of being in a museum

Beautiful stones you picked up. I'm looking forward to seeing what you are going to do with them.