Boulder Opal - Outback Dream

Tiefblauer Boulderopal mit braunen Eisensteinadern. — Deep blue Boulder Opal with brown ironstone veins.

Boulderopal mit diagonalen Streifen in Orange, Gelb und Grün. — Boulder Opal with diagonal stripes in orange, yellow, and green.

Dunkelblauer Boulderopal mit grünem Schimmer. — Dark blue Boulder Opal with green shimmer.

Farbenfroher Boulderopal mit Flecken von Grün, Orange, Blau und Rosa.

Boulderopal, der mit grünen, orangen, blauen und rosa Farbtönen schimmert.

Boulder Opals are a particularly popular Australian opal variety.

In a Boulder Opal, a layer of precious opal is grown together with ironstone. Often, the cut stones show parts of the brown rock as well.

With their vibrant and contrasting colours layered over dark stone, Boulder Opals are unique in the world of precious stones. The clearer and more brilliant the play-of-colour, the more valuable the Boulder Opal. Each Boulder Opal is unique in appearance. They often have an irregular surface and are usually cut in free-form shapes, emphasizing their individuality and natural beauty. Whether left as a rough collector’s piece or cut and set into a magical piece of jewellery, Boulder Opals are sought-after worldwide.

It is said that Boulder Opals emphasize creativity and joy of life, personal growth, and groundedness.

Boulder Opal jewellery

Here you can see a small selection of Boulder Opal jewellery.
You can find more examples in the opal jewellery section and in our online shop.

Blau-grüner australischer Boulderopal in einem Anhänger aus Gelbgold, mit Diamanten besetzt — Blue-green Australian Boulder Opal in a yellow gold pendant, set with diamonds.

Ring aus Gelbgold mit blau-grünem Boulderopal und Diamantbesatz — Yellow gold ring with blue-green Boulder Opal and diamond detailing.

Eine Karte von Australien, auf der die Gebiete markiert sind, in denen Boulderopale gefunden werden.

Mining and processing

The main mining areas for Boulder Opals in Queensland, Australia are located within a 300km-wide and 800km-long belt of weathered Cretaceous sediments, mainly in the areas around Winton, Vergemont, Jundah, Quilpie, Eromanga, Yowah, and Cunnamulla.

With luck, effort, and perseverance, valuable opal deposits can be found in an iron-clay-sandstone mixture in so-called boulders (boulder-shaped rock), ranging in size from a few centimetres to several metres wide. Inside these boulders, opal in all colours and shapes has filled the natural stone cavities, cracks, crevices, and tubes many millions of years ago. Boulder Opals are mainly mined with the help of heavy machinery in open-pit mining, often far from any civilisation due to the widely-scattered opal deposits.

Drei Minenarbeiter auf der Suche nach Opalen bei einer Boulderopal-Mine. — Three miners searching for opals at a Boulder Opal mine.

Nahaufnahme von drei Minenarbeitern, die bei einer Boulderopal-Mine nach Opalen suchen. — Close-up of three miners searching for opals at a Boulder Opal mine.

Ein Opalschleifer schleift sorgfältig einen Boulderopal mit Hilfe einer Schleifmaschine. — An opal cutter carefully shapes a Boulder Opal with the help of a grinding wheel.