Opals can be a picture stone that tells a story in jewellery. Its vibrant colours and unique patterns can create stunning visual effects that resemble natural or cosmic scenes. Some opals can display landscape scenes featuring mountains and wide sky vistas, with shades of blue, green and warm brown. Others can evoke interstellar planetary worlds, with flashes of red, orange and yellow. And others can mimic ocean rock pools, with swirls of turquoise, purple and pink. In this article, we explore how opal can inspire jewellery designers to craft pieces that capture the beauty and diversity of nature and beyond.
A picture stone is a type of gemstone that has a natural or enhanced pattern on its surface that resembles an image of something, such as a landscape, an animal, a flower, or a symbol. Picture stones are often used in jewellery to create unique and meaningful designs that express the personality or preferences of the wearer. Some examples of picture stones are agate, ammolite, jasper, opal, and turquoise. Picture stones can be cut and polished in various shapes and sizes to suit different jewellery settings and styles.
Our "Dog Star Nebula Opal Ring" and "Jupiter Rising Opal Ring" are perfect examples of picture stones being used in Australian fine jewellery!
Picture stone can also serve as inspiation in custom designed jewellery. The story displayed on the stone can inform the jeweller on how to capture and frame the natural display of beauty in a jewellery piece.