Australian Boulder Opal Specimen – 0.43kg, Red & Green Colour Play

This Australian boulder opal specimen has been shaped into a smooth, rounded freeform — the kind of tactile piece that's as much about handling as display. One face has been polished back to reveal the opal: flashes of red and green colour play scattered across a pale cream and grey potch background, framed by the stone's natural dark brown ironstone. The rest of the piece keeps its rounded, tumbled ironstone surface, showing the banding typical of the host rock. At 108 x 55 x 45mm and 0.43kg it sits comfortably in the hand or on a shelf, and like all boulder opal, the colour layer and its ironstone backing formed together — this piece was never anything but one solid stone.

About Boulder Opal

Boulder opal forms as veins of precious opal within ironstone matrix in the opal fields of Queensland — primarily Quilpie, Yowah and Winton. Unlike black opal from Lightning Ridge, the opal cannot be separated from its host rock; it's cut as a single solid piece, with the natural brown ironstone remaining as the stone's backing. This gives boulder opal its distinctive look — vivid colour against rich earth tones — and also makes it physically more durable than other opals, since the ironstone host is harder than the opal layer it carries.

Specifications

• Stone: Natural Australian Boulder Opal
• Weight: 0.43kg
• Dimensions: 108 x 55 x 45mm
• Colour Play: Red and green flashes
• Matrix: Ironstone
• Form: Freeform, part-polished specimen
• Origin: Queensland, Australia
• Availability: One-of-a-kind — 1 piece available

Caring for a Display Specimen

Boulder opal is naturally more robust than solid opal because of its ironstone backing, but it's still a natural stone worth handling with a little care. Pick it up by the matrix rather than gripping the polished face, keep it somewhere stable where it won't be bumped off a shelf, and avoid sitting it in direct sun or right next to a heater — like any opal, sudden swings in temperature aren't ideal. A soft, dry cloth is all it needs to stay clean.

Provenance

Hand-selected by Joseph Bernecki, sourced direct from the Australian opal fields and set in his Sydney workshop. Meet him any weekend at The Rocks Market, stall under the bridge, Sydney. Read Joseph's story →

Common Questions