Owyhee River Thundereggs

Once again - possibly a border-straddling location as I have seen them listed as both Idaho and Oregon. In the case of the eggs below, the tag specified Idaho, so I welcome a new state to the gallery with pleasure.

Or perhaps I should say locationS, as these three eggs could hardly be more different. Owyhee River blue opal is famous and valuable, and I think some examples of this are included below. Sadly most blue opal seems to end up as pieces of opal for lapidary and I haven't seen many actual thundereggs on offer. One seller with an uncut thunderegg on sale recommended hammering it to separate the opal from the matrix - which made me cringe! I don't care HOW valuable the opal is! I want it as a thunderegg, not a heap of blue pebbles!

Small and Simple Specimen of Owyhee Blue Opal