Antique Gold Bangle with Opals and Diamonds, England, c. 1910

Legend has it that opals once fell from the sky as the tears of joy shed by the Olympian gods. Perhaps the stone’s strikingly fiery play of colours inspired our ancestors to imagine this. Regardless of its origin, however, the opal is truly a wonder to behold. But did you know that pieces of jewellery featuring Australian precious opals, such as these bangles, have only been available on the gemstone market for a relatively short time? The first European to discover opals in Australia was the German geologist Johannes Menge. He found opals north of Adelaide in 1841—but little attention was paid to these discoveries, as they were not yet precious opals of jewelry quality. The first documented discoveries of gem-quality opals with a shimmering play of colours date back only to 1872. Commercial mining did not begin until the 1890s in Queensland. Finally, in 1905, additional opal fields were discovered in Lightning Ridge, followed by Coober Pedy in 1915 and Andamooka in 1930—fields that still attract adventurers today, hoping to make the discovery of a lifetime. This bangle is adorned with nine shimmering opals and eighteen small old-cut diamonds. Together, they transform the piece of jewellery into a celebration of colour. The Australian solid opals are cut as cabochons and display iridescent reflections in every shade of the rainbow against a light background color. The warm yellow gold from which the bangle is crafted complements the warm hues of the opals; while the diamonds enhance this color palette with sparkling points of light. The bangle was crafted in the United Kingdom c. 1910. We discovered it in London in the antique case shown here.

Estimate:£5,823.63

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