Mysterious opal….
Meeting with the expert from Opale Noire:
Have you ever looked at an opal?
It is a strange stone; it does not have a color, but it has many colors! This stone holds the rainbow.
As a gemologist, I have already been able to appreciate opals, their surprising texture, smooth and filled with a mosaic of colors that is always in motion.
But I hadn’t yet had the chance to admire the black opals!
This stone is full of mysteries, and to preserve its magic, I will not reveal the name of its expert!
It’s near a famous square, where I met this mysterious enthusiast and expert on black opals!
Generally, a merchant opens the pleats (small papers in which the stones are protected) and talks about the crystallization, the color of a stone…
Not here, my host is describing paintings to me!!
Its opals, all different, are disturbing: a landscape? a stained glass window? a mosaic? calligraphy?
For him, discovering an opal is very personal; it’s not because an opal is expensive that one appreciates it. ”You are either sensitive to it or not.“.
There's no need to ask him what his favorite stone is!
But rather how did this passion come about for him?
“I was 20 when I saw for the first time an opal in a book; it was very beautiful. Even in the trade, I saw a lot of white opals but very few black ones. And in this book, it was gorgeous!
Then 10 years ago, I was shown a black opal even more beautiful than the one in the book; that was the beginning of a passion. The market opened in Australia and I developed it in Europe; it was a stroke of luck!”
What is the jewel that makes you dream?
2 years ago at the Biennale des Antiquaires, it was a necklace, more precisely a pendant with an opal. It’s an extraordinary piece!
What is wonderful about opal is that there is no possible repetition.
A jeweler you like?
Van Cleef and Arpels.
What do you like about your job?
The encounters with the people and the stones.
The trips…
What made you decide to choose it?
My father showed me this profession and also the possibility of seeing beautiful things every day.
What is your favorite work of art?
The works of Tinguely.
A place that inspires you?
Majorca.
A music you listen to?
JJ Cole, “the end of the line”.
What would you like to accomplish?
A world tour on a motorcycle!
Thanks to him for sharing his passion and knowledge of Black Opal with me.
