Gday from Down Under!

[aussiejamie]

Hi guys,
My name is Jamie Irvine and I have been a long time viewer of this awesome forum! Thought it was bout time to introduce myself and show off some goodies as I think everyone should share their eye 'rock candy'. I love colored stones and have been lucky enough to learn how to cut. Here are a couple of gems. I hope you like them! I love seeing everyone's gemstones.

 

[jordyonbass]

Nice job you've done there Jamie (from a fellow Aussie!!)

Do you do any mining of stones? Or do you just source rough?

 

[aussiejamie]

Hi Jordyonbass,
I have been out digging myself abit however a good friend of mine is a miner from central Queensland. So I have predominantly been cutting stones from his mine. Have been cabbing a couple of really nice star sapphires of late. These are a few small stones and hopefully people like them and I will continue posting up pics. I also go fossicking out Inverell way too for those stunning New England Blues. It is good cause I get them straight from the ground no treatments whatsoever.
Jamie

 

[Siameseroo]

Gorgeous stones, thanks for posting!

 

[aussiejamie]

Thanks for the nice comment Ricezo!!

 

[Lovinggems]

Thank you for the photos. The stones may be small but they have a big colour impact.

 

[chrono]

Both colour and cutting look very good. How long have you been faceting gemstones?

 

[arkieb1]

Hi from another Aussie, that yellow sapphire is very cool!!!

 

[aussiejamie]

I appreciate the nice comments lovinggems and chrono! Been cutting for about 2 years and love it.I think it will be a lifetime of learning in regards to faceting. Can be an absolute pain at times but the outcome from the rough is very satisfying.
Here is another not bad stone for you gem lovers out there!

 

[aussiejamie]

Thanks for the nice comment arkieb1. Nice to see another aussie on here. The yellow stone is actually a bit more yellow in real life than in the photo. There is a bit of light reflection on the table of the gem in the photo which sort of drowns out the color.
Jamie

 

[aussiejamie]

Hi guys and gals,
For those of you that like parti-sapphires I hope u like this. Also are you guys fond of opals cause I put some of those up too.
Jamie

 

[Siameseroo]

I'd love to see some opals!

So what do you do with your stones? Do you collect them or make jewellery etc?

 

[aussiejamie]

Hi Ricezo,
At the moment they are just adding to the collection but my miner friend and I are thinking about selling eventually. He is not happy with getting paid pittance for his gems from certain overseas buyers that come through the gemfields. If we go down that route I sure have a lot of cutting ahead lol. Thing is I love the gems and sometimes want to keep them but also it is great to make others happy too. I will be doing some goldsmithing soon which will be awesome!!! Can't wait.

A question for everyone,
what is the communities thoughts on rounded girdles vs faceted girdles?

I will try to photo some opals tonight and post some.

 

[Acinom]

Thanks for sharing your pics. What an amazing colors & great cutting!

 

[katharath]

Great gems, please do post your opal pics! I'd love to see them.

I'm not sure how the community in general feels about rounded girdles vs faceted - I personally like faceted girdles on many (although not all) gems. On the flip side, a gem seller/friend of mine says that she thinks it's kind of a fad look and she doesn't like them at all.

 

[aussiejamie]

Thanks for the nice comments acinom and katharath.
I personally like both faceted girdles and rounded. Therefore I am still on the fence about which I like more. I was taught using rounded however a friend of mine introduced me to meetpoint faceting. Of late I have been doing more faceted girdles.
Jamie

 

[aussiejamie]

For those of you that enjoy some opal, here are a few bits of eye candy of which I also cut. A couple of black opals with some whites and a pretty unique stratified white opal which was from White Cliffs. Do you guys prefer freeform opals or ovals? I think freeforms look awesome when they are imaginatively set. Saw a necklace at lightning ridge that was inspired by elven jewellery from lord of the rings. It was amazing. Opal can be notoriously difficult to photo well and they are best viewed in a video to see the color movement but oh well. Is it possible to put vids on here? Got more if u guys would like to see!
Jamie

 

[chrono]

I think free-form is more beautiful but unfortunately, it means going custom for the setting, which can end up rather expensive.

 

[aussiejamie]

Chrono that is a very good point! Sometimes its hard cut away beautiful color just to make it an oval. But I suppose it just needs to be done sometimes. Hey guys 5 0f those stones are from lightning ridge. Can u guys pick which ones? Also can vids be uploaded?

Jamie

 

[Spin-Elle]

Hi Jamie!
I'm a long time lurker but you've inspired me to post
I'm an Inverell girl living in the USA. That blue sapphire is gorgeous - it warmed my heart a little lol. I've collected quite a few aussie sapphires, parti's, yellows, and blues. My newest craze is spinel.
Great job on the cutting! You've made me happy just looking at the photos.
I'll be watching closely to see what else you post!

 

[Stone Hunter]

What a cool hobby! TFS photos of your stones.

 

[aussiejamie]

Hi Spin-elle and Stone hunter,
Thanks for your lovely comments. I love Inverell and Australias best blues come from there in my opinion. I am glad to have made you reminisce and be happy and thanks for posting! I lurked this site for ages too and decided to just bite the bullet and post. The community seems to be very friendly so thanks pricescope for not ignoring us newbies to your site.
Jamie

 

[minousbijoux]

Hey aj: do you all really say "G'day Mate" all the time, or is that one of our oversimplifications? Btw, you have some mighty pretty stones you've cut. Now that I buttered you up, do tell which are the Lightning Ridge opals.

 

[aussiejamie]

Hi minousbijoux,
"Gday mate" is still pretty common saying here and you sure do hear it around. It is definitely more common outside of the capital cities and out bush. BTW tnx for the buttering .

The Lightning ridge stones are the ones with arrows pointing to them. Most of the rest are from Mintabie. The white oval is from White cliffs (this photo does not do the stone justice). I have lots more cut opals and rough that needs cutting. I might post up a couple of star sapphires soon too! Do you guys like them?
Jamie

 

[Lovinggems]

I love the opals nd sapphires. Great seeing more beautiful Australian gems on here.

 

[Spin-Elle]

Wow! I love the big blue!
Thanks for showing us more of your work.
Inverell has a special place in my heart. It's very different to New Orleans
Are you going to set any of these gems??

 

[minousbijoux]

Thanks Jamie for your map of the ovals. You'll be pleased that I would've gotten exactly one correctly identified as an LR!

 

[jordyonbass]

Hi Spin-elle and Stone hunter,
Thanks for your lovely comments. I love Inverell and Australias best blues come from there in my opinion. I am glad to have made you reminisce and be happy and thanks for posting! I lurked this site for ages too and decided to just bite the bullet and post. The community seems to be very friendly so thanks pricescope for not ignoring us newbies to your site.
Jamie

I wish I could get my hands on that stone in the middle for my wife!

 

[GliderPoss]

Hi Jamie!
I'm a long time lurker but you've inspired me to post
I'm an Inverell girl living in the USA. That blue sapphire is gorgeous - it warmed my heart a little lol. I've collected quite a few aussie sapphires, parti's, yellows, and blues. My newest craze is spinel.
Great job on the cutting! You've made me happy just looking at the photos.
I'll be watching closely to see what else you post!

Hi Spin-Elle, I'm from the New England region too! Don't want to say exactly for privacy reasons where but my town has "UNE" so that should tip you off...

My enagagement ring is actually a parti-sapphire from Glen Innes so I'm a huge fan. Jamie - if you do decide to sell those beautiful stones, please let us know!

 

[arkieb1]

I don't know why but I thought you lived in QLD HotPozzum. We used to live in Tamworth but moved to QLD. My aunt and uncle and their families live in Inverell....

Lovely stones Aussiejamie!!!