The annual back to Opal
15th January 2018
Now days I only make a couple of pieces of Opal jewellery in a year but for a big part of my working life I was exclusively making Opal jewellery. For two years in a row a longtime customer has started the year with an Opal piece.
Discuss
We wanted to make a ring using this very nice piece of Queensland Boulder Opal. The ring was to made in 18ct yellow gold and as it was to be worn regularly we needed to protect the opal as much as possible in the design,
Queensland Boulder Opal for the ring
Design
A ring that I made in the past caught my customers eye so we decided to look at how this design would translate using the opal. We would use the sweeping bars to secure and protect the Opal.
A Sapphire ring I made over 10 years ago would be the design start.
The Opal was brightest if we aligned it length ways across the finger. I created a digital mockup of the design for the customer to view.
Digital mockup of the design
Draft and Deliver
Opal does not take heat and can also be broken during resizing if the ring distorts too much. Using the draft we confirmed the design and also modified it to the exact finger size avoiding any risk of damaging the opal.
The finished ring is pictured below. You can really see how setting an Opal on the correct angle to optimise the colour pays off.
