Published by the San Francisco Standard, the article documents recent attempts by 77-year-old jeweller Steven Sodokoff to offload a 3,749-carat white opal.
It’s a story reminiscent of the 2019 hit film Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, an award-winning thriller which documents the downfall of a ‘hustler’ jeweller with a gambling addiction in New York City.
According to the report, Sodokoff is seeking $USD150,000 ($AUD223,000) for the opal, which he has named the ‘Galaxy Opal’. He has owned the disc-shaped opal since the 1980s, and it was featured in the Guinness World Records in 1992 as the world’s largest finished opal.
“We’re all getting old. We’re tired of looking at it,” Sodokoff said.
“A friend of mine lent some money to these guys who were doing rah-rah business with ruby and sapphire in New York in the early ’80s. They took a flyer on the piece of rough that this stone was. Another friend of ours cut it. Those guys went bankrupt.
He added: “Everybody’s blown away. Everybody wants to touch it. They all reach for it.”
The Galaxy Opal was sourced from northeastern Brazil’s Boi Morto mine.
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