Opal Mining • Rough Opal • Cut Opal • Opal Distribution • Opal Valuation
Nicholas Kollias
Australis Gems & Jewellery
Suite 422, 38 Gawler Place
Adelaide, South Australia 5000
About Australis Gems and Jewellery
Nicholas Kollias, owner of Australis gems and Jewellery, has over 35 years experience in the Australian opal industry and is recognized by the Australian Federal Government as a leading Australian opal specialist valuer.
Nicholas specializes in the valuation of the rarest and most valuable Australian rough opal, cut Australian opal gems, Australian opalized fossils and Australian opal specimens.
Qualifications
- Applied Chemist IACH.
- Gemmologist FGAA.
- Past President of the National Council of Jewellery Valuers SA Division.
- Approved specialist valuer for the Australian Federal Government.
- Approved specialist valuer for the South Australian Museum.
He has been commissioned to conduct specialist Australian opal valuations, prepare assessments and give specialist advice to:
- Australian Federal Government’s Cultural Gifts Program
- Australian Federal Police
- Australian Taxation Office
- South Australian Museum
- South Australian police department
- South Australian Sheriffs office
- South Australian Public Trustee
Nicholas has been commissioned to conduct specialist valuations for many private opal collections which house some of some of Australia’s rarest and finest Australian opal gems.
He has conducted Australian opal lectures and practical classes for:
- Gemmological Association of Australia South Australian Division
- National Council of Jewellery Valuers South Australian Division.
Specialized Australian Opal Valuations
Nicholas acknowledges that he is in a very privileged position having conducted qualified and recognized specialized Australian opal valuations on Australia’s most rare and valuable Australian opals, Australian opal fossils and Australian opal specimens.
These specialized valuations include:
- The Virgin Rainbow, the finest opalized belemnite ever unearthed.
- The Fire of Australia.
- Opalized dinosaur bones and teeth. ( Plesiosaur, Ichthyosaur and Kronosaur. )
- Opalized sea shells embedded in ancient sea beds.
- The Galaxy, arguably the finest boulder opal ever unearthed.
- White Cliffs opal pineapples. (Opal pineapples are Pseudomorphs, which occur when one mineral replaces another making a cast of the original mineral. Opal has replaced the original mineral Ikaite.)
- Valuations of Australian opals in private investment collections which house some of Australia’s finest quality Australian opal gems.
The Virgin Rainbow, the world’s rarest and most valuable opal belemnite pipe opal on display at the South Australian Museum
Nicholas Kollias (centre) with Jo Bain (left)
and Ben McHenry from the
South Australian Museum
Nicholas mining at the 14 mile mine in Coober Pedy, South Australia.
Rough opal parcels.
With current levels of opal mining in Australia’s opal fields at an all time low, availability of rough opal, particularly high quality rough opal, is scarce.
The once bustling Australian opal mining areas such as Coober Pedy, Mintabie, Andamooka, Lambina, White Cliffs, Lightning Ridge, and Queensland’s boulder fields, are only a shadows of their former past.
Mining areas such as Mintabie, which produced some of the finest and most sought after Australian opal, have been shut down with very little rough opal being mined. As the costs of mining continue to rise, fewer miners can afford such increases and mining activity continues to decline.
Having close connections with active opal miners, Nicholas is able from time to time, secure high quality rough opal parcels available for sale.
If you have genuine interest in purchasing high quality rough opal when available, contact us to register your interest.
All transactions are private and confidential.