Opals are one of nature's most beautiful gems, coming as they do in a dazzling array of colours and patterns.

Australia produces more than 95% of the world's opal supply from four main opal fields. Lightning Ridge in New South Wales , Quilpie in Western Queensland, and Coober Peedy and Minatabie in South Australia.

The history of opal goes back to the 1 st century AD when Pliny described opals as the “Queen of Gems”. In Roman times this precious gem was included in the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. They were thought to bring good fortune and the Roman senator Nonius preferred exile to selling one particularly brilliant opal to Mark Anthony who coveted it as a gift for Cleopatra.

Natural Opal is divided into the categories of black, dark, light, boulder and matrix opal. The classification of black, dark and light is determined by the body tone i.e. the degree of darkness in the background.