Description
Science and beauty are rarely in conflict. Here they converge. Harlequin pattern — large, mosaic-like patches of color in a geometric arrangement — is the rarest and most valued opal pattern. Coober Pedy, discovered in 1915 by a teenage boy on a water prospecting trip, remains the world’s largest opal mining area. The town is largely underground, residents having extended their mines into habitable homes to escape the 50°C surface temperatures.
This specimen originates from Coober Pedy, South Australia, one of the world’s most significant localities for this type of material. Collectors and scientists have drawn from this region for generations, and for good reason: the combination of geological conditions here produces specimens of exceptional quality and clarity.
Every specimen is unique. Photographs approximate the visual experience, but the real thing — its weight, its luster under a raking light, the way it catches the corner of your eye — can only be experienced directly.
