ABOUT Clifton Opals
Clifton Opal Pty Ltd, part of the Gemtec Group of Companies, has been supplying the gemstone industry worldwide since 1971. Clifton Opal recognised as Australia’s leading cutter and wholesaler of precious Queensland Boulder Opal.
Operating from their base at Longreach Airport in Queensland, Maxwell Lane, an instrument rated Pilot, flies regularly with his team to remote mining airstrips throughout Western Queensland to purchase gem quality rough Boulder opal.
The rough opal is then initially “blocked out” in Longreach by removing excess ironstone then flown back to Clifton’s cutting factory in Sydney for final cutting and polishing before being wholesaled to the World market.
Max Lane states that ‘it takes great skill to bring out the finest gem quality opals from a rough piece of boulder. You usually only see a tiny opal seam on the outside, then when it is cut open, that may be all there is or it may open up to reveal huge flashes of colour inside the boulder. Great skill and decades of experience is required to cut the rough to maximize the beauty of the natural opal within. We cut and polish our own boulder opal, so there is no middleman involved; the opals come directly from the mines to you’.
Australia is very far away from many countries, so it may be difficult to visit to view some of our opals. Clifton Opals makes it easy to purchase your very own piece of beautiful opal or opal jewellery and have it delivered anywhere you happen to be in the world.