Cross Jewelers – Opal Story

Because of the heat of the day, Stephen explained, his hosts prefer to mine at night. “Some people mine underground,” he says, “but because opals can in some places be only about 30 feet down, in the sandstone, much mining is done on the surface, using bulldozers to loosen the material and get to opal level."

A front-end loader then transfers the material to the “noodler,” an ingenious automated opal-detecting machine. (The original “noodlers” were people who would optimistically rummage through miners’ refuse piles.) The machine, which resembles a small trailer, was invented about five years ago, is now patented, and is far keener than the human eye. As Stephen explains, it uses ultraviolet light to identify opals “as small as a pinprick” among material moving on a conveyor belt, after which a sensor sends signals to air-jets which then separate the opals from the host rock as they fall from the belt. There are other noodler machines, but they require someone to sit under the U.V. lights and pick opal off the belt as it passes by.

Stephen Pride Standing in front of the Worlds most sophisticated opal detecting machine at Coober Pedy, South Australia, October 2007.

The opals are then tumbled to cleanse them of caked-on dust and sandstone, after which they are sorted by size and quality before being sent to Adelaide for polishing and finishing. This process Stephen was able to observe the following day, as he toured several mining sites in fairly comfortable spring weather (temperatures in the ‘90s offset by a welcome breeze).

Opal rough just out of tumbler

To the human eye, the opal is a source of endless fascination. “Every time you look at a particular stone, it’s as if you’re seeing something different,” Stephen says. “As you move the stone in your hands, and the light shifts, your perspective always changes. My dad’s always recognized that (infinite) quality. That, and the endless variety of colors, are what makes the opal so special.”

“The more you look, the more you appreciate the really fine pieces. Some have produced violets and greens, others orange and reds, and some have all mixed together.”

“It’s as if each opal has a personality. Whereas with diamonds and most gems you need a microscope to reveal the individuality, each opal proclaims its identity.”

Cross Jewelers’ respect for the integrity of the gem is reflected in its handling. “In more than 90 percent of the opal pieces we offer, we chose the opal as the gem and create the jewelry to complement it,” notes Karen Pride.

Furthermore, as Stephen explains, most opals are cut into uniform shapes and sizes, or into doublets and triplets, wherein a thin slice of opal is capped with other material such as a clear crystal quartz. But Cross recognizes the beauty of the natural-form, “pure” opal.

“Opals almost defy grading,” says Ralph Pride. He vividly recalls the day 40 years ago that his grandfather, Linwood Cross, introduced him to “jelly opal,” a collection of cutting rock that had been in the Cross workshop since the 1920s.

“When you see one that is displaying all its colors so powerfully, how can you describe it?” Ralph marvels. “The rainbow color of oil on water after rainstorm; the colors of the peacock, or a ring-necked pheasant with red and blue and green, and even shocking orange. You wonder, ‘how did nature ever think that up?’”

One favorite was a Mexican opal purchased at a gem show in Tucson, Ariz., almost two decades ago. “A beautiful honey-colored opal that was translucent. As you rotated it in your hand you could see flashes of floating, changing colors, winking on and off. I would put it away in its stone paper, and with my eyes closed, try to picture its effects. But when I looked at it again, it was always more beautiful than any image I was able to conjure.”

That opal eventually became a pendant, mounted “amidst an elaborate, almost four-dimensional sweeps of gold.” It was purchased by a customer who appreciated its radiant beauty.

Over the years, Ralph Pride has not seen that gem’s equal, nor has he expected to. His appreciation of opal is enhanced by understanding that its qualities are unique and infinite; its numbers, finite.

“Our hope is that the opportunity to access the fine Australian opals will continue, but there is a life cycle to particular finds, and there is the possibility that they may never occur again,” he says. “Gems like these are truly in the category of things that come along only once in a lifetime.”

By John Rolfe, special to Cross Jewelers

See More Pictures from the Australian Opal Trip, October 2007

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