Black Crystal

Rare Vintage Black Opal & Diamond Gold Ring, c. 1980

€ 2,190.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Rare Vintage Black Opal & Diamond Gold Ring, c. 1980

Description

In New South Wales, Australia, around 770 kilometres northwest of Sydney, lies the small town of Lightning Ridge in the middle of the outback. In the early 20th century, it gained historical significance - because high-quality opals were found in the mines there, which exhibited rare and impressive plays of colour. Not only the more common light-coloured opal, but also rarer black opals were found here for the first time in the early 20th century. The high-quality opal in this piece of jewellery is such a black opal, a so-called ‘black opal’ or ‘dark opal’. This opal is not black in the literal sense, but is characterised by a darker body, against which the colour effects are particularly impressive. Intense neon green, turquoise and electric blue as well as smaller amounts of red and orange twitch across the dark base of the opal cabochon and seem to change with every movement of the ring. The opal is set in a bed of diamonds with a total weight of approx. 0.45 ct. The ring itself is made of high-carat gold, the vibrant colour of which further accentuates the opal's play of colour. The ring is designed in the historical forms of the Victorian era, but was created more recently. We date it to around 1980, when much jewellery was created in historical forms. It is intricately crafted by hand and in very good condition.

Learn more

Australia is famous for the most beautiful opals in the world. But did you know that jewellery with Australian precious opals has not been around for that long? The first European to discover opals in Australia was the German geologist Johannes Menge. He found opals north of Adelaide in 1841 - but little attention was paid to these finds as they were not yet precious opals in jewellery quality. The first precious opal finds were not documented until 1872, and commercial mining began in Queensland in the 1890s. In 1900, further opal fields were discovered in Lightning Ridge, in 1915 in Coober Pedy and in 1930 in Andamooka. The stones from Lightning Ridge in particular enjoy an almost legendary reputation. The so-called ‘flashfire’ effects can be found in them. This is the name given to the property of some opals to emit lightning-like colour reflections and to produce new, exciting colour images with every new incidence of light.

Learn more

Size & Details

Black Crystal

€ 2,190.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

Learn more

Black Crystal

Rings

Privacy settings