Opal has been treasured throughout history from the early Aztecs and Romans to Queen Victoria, who loved opals so much that she gave them away as wedding presents. Roman historian Pliny described the beauty of opals as the combination of the beauty of all gems.
Whatever the actual name origin; opal has been a favoured, valued stone throughout a long period of history.
The aboriginal Wangkumara tribe recount a legend of how their people gained fire from opal stones, with the assistance of a Muda – a creator who switches from human form to pelican:
Superstitions associated with opal continued throughout the Middle Ages, when opal was widely believed to be beneficial to eyesight, while others thought wearing opal would render the wearer invisible to the eye. Blond haired women wore necklaces of opal to protect their hair from loosing its colour, while opal amulets were worn to attract happiness, love, good fortune and favour.
Lightning Ridge, New South Wales
This is a town famous for its rich and rare black opal. Black opal gets its name from the colour of the “nobbies” or pieces of rough opal in which the gems are usually found.
White Cliffs, New South Wales
Located 295 kilometres northeast of Broken Hill, White Cliffs is Australia’s oldest opal field, where mining began about 1889. The opal fields produced the first commercially accepted opal, far surpassing the quality of the Hungarian mines, as opal displaying such vivid colours had never been seen before.
Central Queensland
The real development of the vast opal deposits began in 1873 with the discovery of fine quality opal north of Thargomindah.
Coober Pedy, South Australia
The Coober Pedy opal fields were discovered in 1915. Producing white or milky opals, until recently, Coober Pedy was the main producer of precious opal. Today the opal fields encompass an area of approximately 45 kilometres.
Mintabie, South Australia
The Mintabie area is now producing very attractive, semi-black opal.
Andamooka, South Australia