Even before their discovery in Australia, opals fascinated our ancestors. In Ancient Rome, opals were seen as the mysterious mother of all gemstones. In Greek mythology, opals were believed to be Zeus’ tears of joy after the victory over the Titans. The Aztecs thought of opals to be the earthly manifestations of the waters of paradise.

In India, opals are the beautiful "Goddess of Rainbows" who turned into stone to escape the unwanted advances of other gods. An Arab belief has it that opals are heaven-sent in the lightning that have captured the divine light in the beautiful jewel.

Opals are the jewels of choice for the regal insignia of Roman Emperors and European royalties. Queen Victoria presented opals to six royal princesses.

Long after the native people of Australia started to tell stories of the magical rainbow stones, Johan Menge, German geologist, recorded the first “discovery” of common opal near Angston in South Australia.

Around 20 years later, precious opal was found not far from Blackall in Western Queensland and sent for evaluation to England. Due to its astonishing beauty, Australian opal's origin was put in doubt, yet, the beautiful opals from the Antipodes soon became a serious competition for diamonds.