I used to be very active in the Gem & Mineral of Scarborough, and developed many good friends there.  One of them, David Bellamy, gave me this stunning Australian boulder opal as a Christmas gift.  We were at the club’s annual Christmas Sale, and one of the vendors was selling self-cut cabochons.  Most of them were stones from Nova Scotia, but a few, like this opal, were from rough he had bought.  I was completely enamoured with the stone, but put off by the price:  $60.  At that point, I was still trying to recover financially from my first failed marriage, and couldn’t justify spending that much on one stone.  So, I was absolutely speechless and overwhelmed when David presented me with the stone.

I made many trips up to the Bancroft Gemboree with David over the years.  He’s an avid collector of “species” thumbnails, and consistently creates some of the most interesting displays at the club’s annual show.

I used this stone for the prong set pendant tutorial I wrote for Haliburton, but the setting really didn’t do the stone justice.  So this week, I took the setting apart and remade it.  This one is staying in my personal collection, as a reminder of a passionate rockhound and generous friend.