You have just purchased an extremely rare and precious Queensland ironstone opal. There is no other stone like it in the world. You take it home, and now you want to know how best to care for it. Opal is a relatively soft stone in the world of semi-precious gemstones. It can scratch and crack if it is dropped. It is a brittle stone. If you have set your opal into a ring, you must remember that is cannot take hard knocks. A butcher friend of ours wanted an opal ring to wear all the time. Mac had to tell him in all honesty that his meat market trade would knock the stone about too much. He ta...

Earth’s Curve has been with Mac for a lot of years. Its creation was stirred by an exquisite piece of opal that had been uncovered on a newly bought land claim in South West Queensland. This Aussie farmer turned opal miner literally discovered opal on top of the ground. Mac spent hours giving this particular stone the time that it deserved to turn it into something worthy. When the Australian Gemological Design Awards came along, Mac decided that this opal could be a part of specialty pieces that the trade would appreciate. Earth’s Curve came into being. On the final night of its creation, ...

Australian Fire Opals Vs Mexican Fire Opals Only a few gemstones in the world can evoke such a thrill and admiration as opals. But, among many different types of opals, one stands out – the fire opal. However, not all fire opals are the same. Fire opals were first discovered in Australia, in the second half of 19th century and people immediately fell in love with them. Australians started to exploit and mine fire opals in order to sell them to rich customers in Europe, the most famous aficionado being the Queen of the United Kingdom, Victoria, who had the entire collection of Australian op...