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The famous Virgin Rainbow Black Opal is for sale here!
Lecture Explains Link Between Opals, Dinosaurs
The connection between beautiful gem-quality opals and the dinosaurs who populated what is now the Australian Outback 110-million-years ago was explained in a lecture presented at GIA's world headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. June 10. Held in conjunction with GIA’s newest museum exhibit, “Opal and the Dinosaurs: Discover the Link,” the lecture was presented to a capacity audience by Andrew and Damien Cody, co-curators of Australia’s National Opal Collection and owners of Cody Opal Pty Ltd of Melbourne.
 The Codys pointed out that, during the early Cretaceous period, parts of central Australia were covered by an inland sea that partially filled with silica-rich sediments. After the sea receded, fluctuating ground waters deposited the silica as opal within cracks and voids in the sedimentary rocks. In various places, plant and animal remains were gradually transformed into opal, many with beautiful play-of-color.
“We’ve come a long way in the last 20 to 30 years in understanding these brilliant gemstones,” said Andrew Cody, citing research done from the Center for Opal Deposit Studies. “However, as (GIA Chairman) Richard T. Liddicoat himself said, opals are the most difficult gemstone to understand, whereas diamonds are the simplest; so we believe that more investigation into opals and opalized fossils will lead to newfound discoveries about this exceptional gemstone material, as well as the dinosaurs that ruled the earth at that time.”
The Codys said opals are magnificent and rare, sometimes with their value being more expensive than diamonds. Factors such as the opal’s appeal and attractiveness, type, brilliance and play of color, shape, size and imperfections play a role in its value, said Andrew Cody. Among the numerous opalized fossils on display in the new exhibit are a fin, femur, and rib from a pliosaur, a marine mammal that swam the inland seas that covered part of Australia 8-10 million years ago.
“These fossils are unique mineral treasures consisting of teeth, bones, shells, and pine cones that literally turned to opal over the millions of years in which they lay underground,” said Damien Cody. “We intend to take this collection around the world to educate people on the beauty and splendor of these opals.”
Many of the attendees remained for more than an hour after the lecture to inquire further into the world of opals and dinosaurs. Jane Coursin, a jewelry designer from La Jolla, Calif., said, “This exhibit is breathtaking – one of the most incredible, innovative, and appealing displays I’ve ever seen.”
Commenting on the addition of this unique exhibit to GIA’s world headquarters, GIA Museum Director Elise Misiorowski said, “We’re honored to be able to display a collection of this magnitude for the first time in the U.S., and thrilled that the Codys agreed to present such fascinating information in the lecture.”
The exhibit will be open through January 2003, and is free and open to the public, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except when the Institute is closed for holidays.
The Codys’ lecture was sponsored by the Gem & Jewelry Society of San Diego. The lectures are free for Gem & Jewelry Society members, and are open to the public on a space-available basis for $10. To join the Gem & Jewelry Society of San Diego, or to attend an upcoming lecture call GIA at 760-603-4170 or 800-421-7250 ext. 4170. The Gem & Jewelry Society of San Diego offers Society members educational programs, exhibits and private lectures with experts in the gem and jewelry industry. The 2002 lecture series focuses on alternative career paths in the gem and jewelry world.
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Australian Fossilized Opals