This only increased the stone’s unfortunate association ... in the late 19th and early 20th century when opal deposits were discovered in Australia, and have since waxed and waned in popularity.

But over 90% of the world's opal comes from Australia. And a lot of the black opal is found here, at Lightning Ridge. It's located on the edge of the Outback, with a population of just over 2,000 ...

For Monica Rich Kosann, whose high jewelry collection, The Jewels of Nature, uses rare Australian black and crystal opals and Mexican ... “I wanted the stone to be the star,” says Kosann.