What is the difference between a boulder opal gemstone and a boulder opal specimen?

As opal miners and cutters, we are constantly deciding whether our rough boulder opals should be cut into an opal gemstone or left as an opal specimen.

Boulder opal gemstones

To produce a boulder opal gemstone we cut, shape and polish our rough boulder opal by hand, so that it is ready to be set into jewelry and worn with love. All boulder opal gemstones are one-of-a-kind and are perfect for custom jewelry.

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Boulder opal specimens

To produce a boulder opal specimen we keep the ‘face’ of the opal in larger pieces in its host rock. In this way it is ready for mineral collectors and crystal lovers to display. They range greatly in size from palm size to much larger pieces. All boulder opal specimens are cut and polished by hand. 

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