My father took me to Los Angeles Natural History Museum about 1965 and one exhibit was all about Australian opal. I’d never seen, nor heard about opals but the black opals on display mesmerized me at about age 10.
I grew up in California, where gold was first discovered long before Sutter’s Mill and with bandits like Joaquin Murrieta and mythical history of Vazquez Rocks, treasure hunting whole hiking came naturally. Hiking was something to do in our rural western town.
the opal exhibit included underground living in Coober Pedy!
I was hooked and dreamed about opal mining and finding such beautiful gems, then swimming in my underground pool!
Opal is my birthstone which I learned from the museum visit and I have many pieces I adore. I’ve had the western bolo tie made first, then a ring and finally a western belt buckle, all with large crystal opals plus raw gold I mined myself. I’ve even mined Virgin Valley opal once…
I wear a nice piece of boulder opal daily as my other pieces are for special occasions, which are too rare these days.
Why?
No other gem contains all colors in three dimensions simultaneously, yet never look exactly the same from different angles.
