It could be fairly stated that opal is Australia’s national  gemstone; there is no gem which holds greater beauty and fascination than this rainbow hued stone whose flashing spectrum of colours make it the most sought-after and fashionable gem of the modern age. This book is a trip through the opal fields, the types of opal mining, the lives of the miners and what to see at the historic opal mining towns of Andamooka,  Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy and the Queensland opal fields. It also covers the scientific nature of the gem and how the gem is cut and worked. With 86 colour plates.