Black Opal has set a high standard for the quality in gemstones that is hard to beat. Famous for its mysterious dark body tone and vibrant colours which produce the phenomenon called “play of colour”, black opal showcases all the visible colours of the spectrum.
No two Opals are ever the same. When you own an Opal you own something that nobody else does and something that could have taken nature millions of years to create.
The majority of the world’s Opal comes from Australia. Lightning Ridge is located in north western New South Wales, it is an area which millions of years ago was home to a great inland sea which had perfect conditions to produce perfect Opal. Nowadays Lightning Ridge is home to an unknown population of miners, and tourists who become addicted to chasing the colour. Contrary to popular beliefs, Lightning Ridge is not the only place in the world you can find black opal, however, 99% of the worlds black opal is mined here.
Discovered by Jack Murray, who was a boundary rider, in 1901, it was Charlie Nettleton who sank the first shaft in Lightning Ridge in 1902. At first this magnificent Opal was rejected by buyers as being too good to be natural. Not one to give up, Charlie walked to White Cliffs with his Opal and sold it. This sale allowed the field to move ahead and continue to produce the world’s best quality natural Opal.
