John Bernard

An acknowledged opal visionary, John Bernard is relentless in his pursuit to achieve strict regulation of the Australian opal industry. His belief in sustainable mining, masterful opal cutting and polishing, and non-negotiable opal treatment disclosure is reflected in both his mining and business practices.

Opals and opal mining run in his blood. The son of an opal explorer father and a master opal cutter mother, John grew up in a family that amassed what once was the largest opal collection in the world.

Brought up in various opals fields across Australia, John was mining opals as soon as he could walk and started trading at the tender age of seven. On hearing the Jundah-Opalville mines were for sale, he didn’t hesitate to make them his own.

Hands-on and passionate, John spends much of his time working our mines. Home to the first black opals discovered in Australia and to a broader variety of opals than any other Australian mine, the Jundah-Opalville mines have lodged a claim on our founder’s heart.