We started out this year thinking about designing long, big, statement boulder opal earrings for this 2017.   In part, because Bill (Kasso) brought back from his annual Australian trip, some outstanding "large clean faces" of rough boulder opal.  That does not happen often..

Bill broke down all the rough boulder opal that you see here, isolating the seams of cuttable gem opal, then cutting away the excess iron stone.  As one can imagine, it takes some time; but how beautiful is this!   His next step is to decide what shapes to cut.

As far as I'm concerned, the hard part is to pick which pairs I want!  The possibilities are endless when you have this at your finger tips!  

  The blue green colors of this boulder opal is a favorite of many people in the states; classic boulder opal!   Bill and I collaborated  

 this year (basically, he asked me what shapes I wanted), I  responded with;  leaf shapes, onion shapes, and teardrops.  In the past when buying gems I've been relegated to purchasing finished cuts, so being able to have input in the shapes is exciting!

 Here are a few of the results.

 Boulder opal earrings in 22k & 18k gold with blue zircon accents. We felt that these earring would be perfect for brides that want something unique, and would have an earring that they can wear with their blue jeans after their special day.  Gabriella Marks, the photographer, really captured the beauty of these boulder opals, in this simple, but elegant earring.  Pairs are hard to come by since the rough boulder has to be thick enough to split down the middle so you get a matched pair of gem opal.  The opal pairs on the right turned out beautifully and made many a jewelry designer very happy at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show this year.   https://www.kalledjewelrystudio.com/collections/earrings/products/boulder-opal-earrings-8

https://www.kalledjewelrystudio.com/collections/earrings/products/boulder-opal-earrings-9