Most Expensive Opal: The Record-Setting Stones Explained
The most expensive opal ever found, from Olympic Australis to Aurora Australis, and what actually sets the price of the opal you can buy.
black opal
Black opal: dark body tone with vivid play-of-color, the most prized opal (Lightning Ridge).
Black Opal Price: What Actually Sets the Value
What actually sets black opal price: body tone, brightness, pattern, and color, explained by a goldsmith who cuts the stones himself.
Dark Opal and the Opal Body Tone Scale
Dark opal explained: how it differs from black opal on the N1 to N9 body tone scale, and what that means for value, setting, and wear.
Lightning Ridge: Australia’s Black Opal Country
A jeweler’s guide to Lightning Ridge opal: where the town is, why its claystone ground makes black opal, and how the mining fields work.
Black Opal: Why Lightning Ridge’s Finest Is the Most Prized
Why black opal is the most prized opal: what ‘black’ really means, where it comes from, and how to judge body tone, brightness, pattern and color.