Vintage Boulder Opal Pendant

This unusual Austrian pendant from the 1970s is centred on a magnificent thirty carat boulder opal, most likely sourced from Lightning Ridge in New South Wales. The opal is a striking specimen, retaining its natural irregular outline and showing dramatic parallel bands of colour. Electric blues and vivid neon greens run in long seams beside milky opalescent zones, while the dark ironstone host remains visible along the edges and on the reverse. The stone has been mounted deliberately to showcase this raw geological contrast, a hallmark of high quality boulder opal where the gem and matrix are inseparable.

The pendant is crafted in 14K yellow gold and fitted with sturdy claws that follow the natural contours of the stone. The gold carries the Austrian horse head assay mark for 585 gold (14K) together with the maker’s mark ‘GIS’. The piece has a strong sculptural presence, measuring approximately 2.5 by 2.3 centimetres and projecting roughly 1 centimetre at its deepest point. It weighs 7.36 grams.

Boulder opal from Lightning Ridge is prized for its intensity of colour and for the individuality of each slice cut from the ironstone. No two pieces are ever the same and this example displays a particularly impressive range of hue and structure. It is a fine specimen pendant from the height of the Modernist period in Austrian jewellery.