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Their mysterious beauty and allure. Did you know that, since the beginning of time, opal has been the muse of artists, writers, and creatives? Historians believe that the name originates from Ancient Rome with the word ‘opalus’ meaning ‘precious stone’.
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This amazing gem is formed by rain that slowly seeps into the crevasses of rock. Once the rainwater evaporates, silica is left behind and, as it dries out, it eventually hardens into precious opal. This does not happen overnight – it takes approximately 5 million years to solidify a single centimetre of opal!
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The magnificent play of colour is out of this world… literally! Opal is one of only a handful of gems that have ever been discovered outside of our planet with deposits found on Mars! On earth, Australia mines 95% of the world’s precious opals for use in jewellery with black opals being the rarest!