The Opal, Australia's National Gemstone

Opal was named Australia’s national gemstone in July of 1993 by the Governor General, Sir Bill Hayden. Aptly so, opal is the queen of all gems for many reasons as it continues to capture eyes and hearts with the never ending dance of colours and patterns. So much so that in fact no two opals are ever the exact same in the way their colours shift and move as the angle of light hitting the stone changes.  In fact there are such an infinite possibility of patterns and displays of every visible spectrum of colour in opal that in every lighting (indoor, outdoor, day, night, etc) it will look different all the time.

This is such a beautiful facet of opal’s charm as we too as people have so many different dimensions to us and we continually shift throughout our life growing, learning and blossoming in so many ways. Opal is such a wonderful stone to represent our life’s journey, finding the playful colour and vibrance in both our dark and light times.

The major opal production in Australia are found in remote outback areas in the three states of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. With each offering distinctly different appearances, colours and styles in their opals. Opals from Lightning Ridge are world famous for black and crystal opals. Opals from Coober Pedy, White Cliffs and Andamooka are renowned for their light and white opals, and opals from Queensland are known for their unique boulder opals where the opal is married to the ironstone host rock where the opal is nestled into the cracks and seams of the rock.