Buying opals in Australia
 

I read the comments on this site from 7 or 8 yrs ago. I was curious if anyone
had any current thoughts on purchasing opals. Some of the cities that
we will be in are Melbourne,Adelaide,Sydney. I'm looking for the name
or names of reputable dealers if possible and any other advice you might have.

Thanks

I bought some boulder opals directly from a miner in Noosa and 2 others from an antique dealer. I then had them set by a jeweller in Italy. They turned out to be very good quality and very fairly priced compared to jewellery shops. I think the best thing is to read a bit about the stones before so uou know what you are looking at. Also a lot depends on how much you want to spend. Boulder opals are rare outside Australia and often cheaper than normal opals. The rock is still attached to the back and this in a way is a guarantee of authenticity. If you buy from a miner you can get him to shape the opal as you like. However unfortunately I can't help with names of reputable sellers in any of the cities you are visiting....Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. By the way I will also be in Cairns
which is apparently closer to the source of boulder opals.

I was there in September and since Opal is my birthstone I did look into getting a nicer one than what I have. I hit shops both in Sydney and Melbourne. I though it was pretty high pressure IMHO and frankly the stones I did like were way over the top price wise. Both places have tons of shops and perhaps I just didn't hit the right ones. It was fun to look and get a idea of what was out there. I plan to look again this fall when I am heading to Western and Northern areas to do as above and check out some miners offerings. That said you never know until to check things out there is no lack of shops selling opals that's for sure.

Anyone purchased opals or other jewelry from dealers or
stores that you would recommend?? Any thoughts would be appreciated.