Our illustrated book
Where Colour Lies
A Collector’s Guide to Australian Opal
A small stone can open onto a much larger world. Where Colour Lies explores the science behind opal’s shifting colour, the landscapes that formed it and the knowledge that helps a collection grow.
In preparation — We’ll share release and ordering details when they’re ready.
Ask about the book
Inside the book
Colour, origins & collecting
Follow opal from the structure beneath its surface to the stone in your hand. Clear explanations and illustrations make room for both understanding and wonder.
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How opal creates colour
Meet the tiny silica particles inside precious opal and discover how their arrangement works with light to produce its shifting flashes.
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Where opal is found
Travel through the opal fields of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland, with a brief look at sources beyond Australia and the stones they produce.
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Choosing & caring for opal
Learn the language used to describe a stone, recognise the difference between solid and assembled opal, understand treatments and care for your collection.
For first-time buyers & collectors
An illustrated guide to return to
Written for first-time buyers, beginning collectors and anyone who has paused over an opal and wondered how it could hold so much colour. You don’t need specialist knowledge; the explanations begin with the basics.
Illustrated studies sit alongside explanations of geology and light, inviting you to read a little, turn a stone and look again. It is a companion for the first discovery and the questions that follow.