Louis XVI (1754-1793) wore an Opal finger-ring befitting the illustriously luxuriant Court he held with his Queen at Versailles. Indeed Marie Antoinette owned a famous flame Opal known as the ‘Forest Fire’.
Symbol of Regency
Opals became a sine qua non of royal and aristocratic dress in Renaissance England. Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and indeed members of the Elizabethan nobility, wore lavish parures of Opal.
Queen of Gems
Due to its exceptionality Opal has always been well represented in private collections around the globe. The mysterious ‘Queen of Gemstones’ is synonymous with graceful power, beauty and rarity.
Romancing the Stone
Gem DVD explores sapphire fossickers and Opal miners
Taken from article in CQ Uni News on 11 November, 2010
Officially launched in November a 2 part DVD documentary exploring the history of the small, independent opal fossickers and sapphire miners along the Tropic of Capricorn and the building of a heritage tourism industry…
The DVD comes out of a project entitled Romancing the Stone from Cinderella to Waltzing Matilda: A Snapshot of the Sapphire and Opal Industries of Central Queensland.
Gem Digital Analyzer a Winner
The GDA opens at the Powerhouse Museum
The 2010 Engineers Australia Awards exhibition is now open at the Powerhouse Museum celebrating innovation, creativity and technological achievement, the exhibition was officially opened by the President of Engineers Australia Peter Hitchiner and the Head Curator of the Powerhouse Museum. The Gemmological Digital Analyser™ (GDA), Sydney Winner of Innovations and Inventions, was on display and expected to be viewed by half a million people during the year.
The exhibit incorporates an interactive display, including a working turntable alongside five premium opals. The five majestic gems are the Cerulean Rose, Astral Flame, Coral Lotus, Pacific Blaze and the Arctic Fire.
Alongside the exhibit, the Powerhouse Museum has produced an 8-page special report in the Sydney Morning Herald, detailing the GDA™ as well as other innovative technologies on display. Anyone interested in the GDA™ is urged to visit the Powerhouse Museum to view firsthand the technology and its exciting potential. To find out more about the GDA, please visit www.gdacertified.com.au © 2009 Opal Producers Australia Limited
Where was Opal first found?
Opal was a favourite gem amongst the ancients, the first literary record by an Ancient Greek scholar Theophrastos was around 300BC. India may have been … Read more
Opal in Jeweller’s Terms
From Ancient times through to the Middle Ages Opals were sacred. Opals became the quintessential Art Nouveau gemstone, providing the foundation for the first mass … Read more
A-List Opal Jewellers
A to Z – The Who’s Who of Master Jewellers. Award winning Opal jewellery designers and creative advocates of Australia’s National Gemstone.
Opals On The Catwalk
Wooing A New Generation of Australian Opal Ambassadors July 2009
Members of the opal industry donated over 50 opal prizes to the $100,000 Opal Fashion Bash 2009, held inTownsville.
Since the sponsorship began in 2008, through the National Opal Miners Association (NOMA), the Fashion Bash (a program to develop young modelling talent) has been inspiring facsination & passion for Opals.
