The Opals of Australia documentary of Patrick Voillot

a rainbow brought a God to a distant land beyond the seas the men of this country saw in him the creator of the Dreamtime then one day he left the rainbow and disappeared at the point where he had touched the ground The Rock's turned into colorful gemstones [Music] the opal was created and this land was called Australia [Music] see that diora have the opportunity and the chance to create in an extremely free manner I'm drawing a snake which not a bad snake that stings it's a snake that's generous and kind this snake must have a magic stone for me there was only one stone that would do and it was the opal it's an intriguing stone that's what I find fascinating and it has a reputation there's something going on around it it doesn't leave people indifferent that's what's great about the opal you can look at it for years and you'll always find something at some point that you've not seen before after a long absence in the world to find jewelry the opal takes back its place it should never have left thanks to the designer Victoria stolen indeed this stone has been sought after for over 2,000 years it was already very popular and considered to bring good luck in Rome in ancient Greece it then came from present-day Hungary I would like them to be turquoise and green opals with blue in them and in fact I think we'll have to go look for them in Australia Australia is a continent country that is very sparsely populated containing only 19 million people concentrated in a few coastal cities over an area almost equal to that of Europe [Music] in January 1788 11 ships of the British fleet landed a few hundred convicts and for marine companies in a secluded Bay the colony was established and in this location the future city of Sydney was founded they're followed a period of exploration in colonial expansion punctuated by frequent conflicts between settlers and Aborigines they were expelled from the territories they inhabited after thousands of years in full communion with the natural elements by the mid 19th century a considerable quantity of gold was discovered a rush of prospectors and thousands of immigrants invaded the country rinsing the precious metal some of them found a fascinating stone of many colors open a new fever was going to invade Australian a man Tulley Wollaston caught the fever after being notified by a letter from the discovery of an opal mine in Queensland he originated the idea of trading with this gem in 1888 he later became the founder of the opal industry in Australia many years passed before a group of gold diggers on February 6 1915 in the desert region north of Adelaide made the discovery of the enormous opal deposit of Coober Pedy Jim Hutchinson has taken his son Bill aged 15 on this perilous expedition arriving at Camp thirsty he left him in went in search of water upon returning the teenager disappeared he had left alone in the desert he returned a few hours later to his father's great relief hands and pockets full of opals they were cracked and bleached in the Sun but it was indisputable evidence of a field of great importance these opals were sowed for a small fee to Wollaston word spread and a rush of prospectors poured into the region one hundred and fifty two thousand dollars awarded to the man at ripe the hammer resounds in the Sotheby's auction house an Opel of flashing bright lights has been sold this gem has always fascinated the Great's of this world the Empress Josephine wife of Napoleon had an extraordinary opal called the burning of Troy the jewel vanished mysteriously Mark Antony coveted a stone of unimaginable size for Cleopatra the owner of which preferred exile rather than to surrender it this gem is trading today at prices that defy imagination in Australia you dig you drill you try hard to find this fabulous treasure Albert a miner in Coober Pedy originally from Eastern Europe migrated to this region many years ago he chose to exploit the opal with industrial equipment he regularly buys mining concessions from the mining Department of the Australian Government to expand his perspective field how are you hello what is it for you I want to register a claim XP p38 for number 3/8 for a license costs 46 points $75 that's theft it's not surprising that we're broke it's nothing here's the change we'll prepare a new license for you come back this afternoon okay thank you it's the most diverse it's a very diverse city there is even an Eskimo who lived in Coober Pedy all nationalities are here Hungarians Germans French Italians most get along very well everyone you can think of this year and most didn't get along pretty well it's quite surprising how well they get on I'm Hungarian myself myself I'm Hungarian I came after the Revolution I fled the revolution with my mother my father was already here he came to seek goal he went to Belgium mr. Carmyle when we started mining when we began to mine in 1960 1965 it was at Andamooka a place not far from here a lot of people go there on vacation people go to places like this for a holiday at that time with a pic and a lamp my father found opals worth between one and two hundred pounds who wants a job in no money he used to say who wants to work in Melbourne when the money is so easy to find we stayed and we've not moved since you've got a quick run through the it'll be a slip a crack here if it falls on a machine it's not too bad but if you're on foot it's not good when you're walking around that's written away the pillars the pillars were damaged it's too big there's not enough to support it it's too big know what just comes down there are tunnels on both sides everything falls apart and you'll find only a pair of boots planted in the ground we check the ceiling constantly the dust that falls indicates that the earth is moving it's an indication that the ground smoothie did you get a line of dust will you see a line of dust where the crack is formed then you go at this moment it's time for a lunch break lunch break you danger is constantly present in these minds for this reason some miners on top of prayers make donations to the priests who intercede on their behalf with the gods in this Orthodox Church located in an old mine the priest regularly receives opals with these offerings the place of worship is perfectly maintained we've always attributed supernatural powers to this fascinating stone and in 1075 the Bishop of Rennes wrote that opal rendered its owner invisible it was then known as the stone of thieves Albert has a special way of locating this gem in his mind he uses a feature of the stone fluorescence when passing ultraviolet light in the dark on the walls it immediately detects the presence of opal which takes on a fluorescent violet color highly visible from the rest of the environment all that's left to do is to pick up the pieces [Music] Opel occurs as a vein it is rarely precious blood glass or bright sounds like glass when it breaks sounds like a cash register when it starts to thicken it loses its color but not always when it starts to get thick it usually guys lose color otherwise with where it's thin wherever it's thin the color is beautiful there are two lines here one is here and the other over a few centimeters away one here one above it and come into the pod [Applause] the quality of opal is judged according to several factors the tone of the bottom of the stone and the distribution in the harmony of colors you must observe it under natural light to appreciate its quality the mix of color comes from its composition which consists of microscopic layers of silicate molecules resembling rows of balls the light penetrates the material and breaks down by returning rays off different colors they're seen along the axis where you look at the opal this phenomenon is called iridescent Harlequin opal represents the most wanted array of colors it forms a mosaic of color reminiscent of the well known figure [Music] under the blackboard under the blacklight you can't know if it's colored or not this type of industrial search involves the use of huge drills and bulldozers these machines can work quickly digging long tunnels to reach the veins of opal but this process elective minors establish the presence of gems and once they have crushed a part of the vein the cuttings thus contain pieces of opal they're collected and discharged outside while waiting to be sorted in this region populated in ancient times by the Aborigines hundreds and hundreds of miners have removed everyday for a century an incredible amount of Earth from the subsoil my name is Ian Crombie I'm a virginal descent my tribe is from here and we live in Coober Pedy my tribe here is the under kiddin me gentlemen that our tribe and we live here kübra petit is an Aboriginal word which means white man in a home the white man comes here to dig holes in search of precious stones for us opal is precious it's protected by our people it's part of our region and our culture our language there are legends that say that there used to be shells on the floor but when the Eagles came to lay their eggs the shells hid themselves under the ground you see the stories there is talked about in the mind where the shells the white man digs in the ground does not restore the soil the white man destroys we want the land to be good when the Moyna come you dig up the hearth and leave it all open you never put the sand back the white man is destroying a hope the land we care for the land we look after the land we want the land to be good [Music] the extracted earth is sorted by a sophisticated mechanization that eliminates dust and fine particles that are of no interest the residue from sorting is carried on a belt into a closed room Albert is the only one to have a key he uses the same technique to detect the fluorescence in opals then sucks them onto the Bell all that's left is for Albert to sort the batches of different qualities and then evaluate the price the quality and especially the colors have a direct impact on the price of open these are small rough stones beautiful colorful this one's beautiful it has a brilliance some people this is a fossilized shell this one has good color you can't tell a person what you can't tell someone what they're like women are like magnets they know how to choose the most expensive opal in the shop it's insane [Music] albert has to go into town to sell his production of rough stones it's important to him because the money will allow him to operate his mind even if production is low or null he must pay the fuel a repair to damaged equipment and pay the men working for him how are you not bad today you have a lot of money sure I have a lot of money if you have beautiful opals I have money I've not seen better for a while yeah better than that right it's not bad but I expected better I gotta work up an appetite this seems better you haven't seen colors like this since when no it's true it's very nice how much how much do you want for the lot eighty thousand dollars Gil freedom living but I have a wife girlfriend kids I'm addicted to hard drugs and gambling I need to make everyone live you have prizes a bit more than usual you're asking more than usual I'll give you fifty thousand dollars come on it's Christmas think of my children I can offer you Christmas present but not that many thousands of dollars a little more give me your price first sixty sixty thousand you know how are you do my pricing you know me you know how I do my prices I don't negotiate much okay 65 what do you mean sixty five thousand dollars fifty two thousand and a half here I'll give you the money and I keep the old fifty three thousand come on with five hundred is Christmas present yes it should be a little something okay that's the color I like which do you prefer this color or that one this one who's better seriously I hope you'll find even more I'm very happy about it it's very pretty it shines it's wonderful healthy my name is my name is Yanni Isana Skoda's I came from Greece 31 years ago to try my luck at coober pedy with these beautiful colored stones for one year and 31 years later I'm still here ten percent of the opal found in Coober Pedy has color ninety percent is what's called Potch that is to say colorless opal miners don't even pick it up it's a waste it's worthless so ten percent has the true colours ten percent of opal that we find its color ten percent so ten percent of it is the best and one percent of that ten percent is the black opal it's black over black opal the black opal is very rare I've seen quite a little faith I've seen quite a few stones and opals that I really like I don't saw them they like I never sell perfectly but one of one of my best stones is on the table stones it's this one is the most beautiful table for 31 years I've never seen better it's it's one it's one of the best sounds that I have ever seen and I have been in the industry as I said to you earlier 31 years I haven't seen better than that that was a big boulder it was a big stone almost half a meter in diameter from the outside we saw nothing I speculated in the buying then I saw this line just because of speculation and all of us as a national this line the opal here contains water understand opal contains water I put my find in the freezer for 24 hours I was hoping that the frozen water would make it fragile and that's what happened I was really lucky I inserted a screwdriver I pushed and with a screwdriver and a faucet and open it and voila [Music] Opel is sometimes found in the form of fossils because 110 million years ago Australia was connected to Antarctica a shallow inland sea divided it into abundant wildlife populated it but it was a form of life very different from what exists today it was the age of dinosaurs [Music] in the arrow mangas II lived strange creatures reptiles marine dinosaurs and many other fish that have disappeared today when one of them died he fell to the bottom his flesh disintegrated leaving only the bone which was then gradually covered with sediment [Music] sometime tist believe that 65 million years ago an enormous meteorite with earth ending the age of dinosaurs and removing the majority of the existing species about 35 million years later drastic climate change would have created a regression of the Eromanga sea the layers of sediment that were deposited cracked in depth allowing the infiltration of silica rich liquid from the ancient ocean and transforming the fossils into opals by a surprising process what we do know about this process is what we know about the process that produces opal is that bacteria appears to have been involved bacteria have transformed the fossil animal bones into small balls of silica while turning into opals themselves when viewed under the microscope we see bodies of bacteria responsible for this magic what what they have left are the rocks filled with opalized bones which were originally the bones of dinosaurs platypus or animal teeth are now extraordinary beautiful opals opal kinds of dinosaurs kinds of Playa sores in the waters that were seen nowhere else there were dinosaurs and Playa sores who lived in water here animals that could not be seen elsewhere we know as Eric one of the most famous is an animal called Eric this was a small pliers or a marine reptile a cousin of the dinosaurs ate fish and like many of the animals from which Eric lived the lungfish Turtles crocodiles and the ancestors of the platypus it died in the water died and when they died then the flesh decayed leaving only the bones and a mysterious phenomenon occurred and then something this theory we are only beginning to understand the process but in the end they were all turned into opal the bones of these prehistoric creatures became precious stones these prehistoric creatures into gems in a desert that stretches out of sight the kingdom of insects reptiles and some mammals adapted to this environment the temperature often reaches 50 degrees centigrade these conditions do not stop adventurers in search of opals from digging the earth at like termites don't worry if in this hostile environment you see a man walking alone eyes closed and two metal rods in his hands he is neither lost nor crazy he is only determining by dowsing where to burrow all techniques are good to find this precious mineral to find opal you can use any metal it just needs to indicate movement this method does not find the opal itself but can find places in the earth where there may be I found opals using this many times it was very accurate but unfortunately many times I did not find any opals we will drill here [Music] 850 kilometres north of Adelaide on an endless road the town of Coober Pedy is placed like a mirage in a city out of a Western the time of the gold rush [Music] world traveler here you enter the world of the opal you can make a fortune but what price are you willing to pay for several decades this region has attracted adventurers from all over the world they are grouped in this region to escape their past why is that rough opal yes it's rough opal from coober pedy in this region yeah yes you know a miner named George sure agreed he worked on the Olympic field just past the airport of the days when waves of emigrants invaded the Australian desert there are only a few men left to survive on small-scale mining George is one of them [Music] [Music] when I need something when I need something I go hello yes how much elección telephone it's a Greek telephone every day he goes down 30 meters deep to the bottom of the mine the hole communicates with perpendicular galleries that were dug into the rock by a machine he rents whenever necessary but especially when his findings allow him to pay for it I'm from Salonika in Greece I arrived in April 1966 I was 23 years old I was a sculptor and I did my military service and when I finished from the Army on leaving the army I walked past a building where there were lots of people there and I asked my friend what are they doing they were asked the question they said they were leaving for Australia and I told my friend want to go to Australia and he said yes three months later we were in Australia this one here is Egyptian this is gypsum crystal it's not opal but often under the gypsum there is open under here sometimes form a big Commission of over under the Egyptian that's a large vein of gypsum that goes down coming down all the way below or sometimes above there's a good material carries material but after we are going to blast here so we dynamite because we believe that there's Korea some Cola to find opals George is not a believer in scientific research he's not studied geology he trusts his instincts and experiences an old searcher often miners abandoned their wells that they think are sterile other searchers come and dig in a different direction and they discover a fortune [Music] George feels the OPA when it is closed only one way to find it dynamite to ensure that the explosive charge is well-prepared it's his wife Judy who manufactures it in a very art is no way we roll a few sheets of paper together turning them this is the cortex there's a knot in the cortex so that nothing falls out what we'll do is we'll fill it can't spill any then fold it like that and I put a piece of tape we've got a German sausage Frankfurt Associates ready we have here a frankfurter sausage if you don't like someone you put a detonator on it and bang here's the fuse there's a detonator at the tip and when George descends he connects them he'll connect them when he's ready we put them in the wall it's been 35 years that we've been doing this it's not dangerous it's like breakfast every morning [Music] [Laughter] [Music] what were you you twit why you why do you work in this area because because when we open will find color here is gypsum and under gypsum there is open now I'm going to dig and blast the gypsum to find the opening under the Egyptian and we found some that's an indication for you yes that's it okay Patrick can you hold this I know many place I know many places that I believe have opal but I go slowly slowly because I check a lot of wells I have a winch on my truck and I look I look people have abandoned some areas not mines but only empty wells when they leave I go down and look and if I find something interesting I start working I started in mine now we're together very dangerous issue assembled it's dangerous it's best not to smoke we're go to woody now that's introduced to look nice it looks good [Music] [Music] [Music] sometimes I found a lot of football but sometimes I find a lot of opal but it's not worth much because it's not of great quality but it's plenty like a $1 $2 parents I guess there's always something good worthwhile there's money in sight there must be for me to be able to continue let's see what do we done this time who knows we might find good opal some papaya look yeah look nice beautiful nice very nice maybe a few hundred dollars very beautiful stone miners have the habit of licking their newly found gems saliva moistens the stone and the light stand out and give an impression of polish this technique allows one quickly see the quality of the opal you see here there are mud cells as they're called I check sometimes you find something well here it is you see see it they must be careful taking it out yes yeah - to a fossil [Music] for you Judy for you Judy to make a pendant pretty huh nice here I like I like the bar I love the bar you see the bar there it's superb lovely maybe me Leon tomorrow maybe tomorrow 1 million I love this job and I'll continue until my death [Music] it's not uncommon on the streets of Coober Pedy for some people tried to fool foreign visitors they're very persuasive they sell doubles which are formed by a layer of genuine opal bonded with a layer of synthetic or natural color enhancer they're sold at the price of opal if well done a double can give the illusion of opal if one is not a specialist there are also triples in which case the Assembly is formed of three layers [Music] try being crista [Music] it's possible to buy the doubles and triples and jewelry stores the sale is allowed if the buyer is made aware of what they are and the price must be lower than that of genuine opal it's safer for the novice to go into a specialty store the opal sellers are familiar with this stone and give advice it's important for example to keep it away from heat sources because it contains three to thirty percent water and dehydration can cause cracks and reduce its iridescent he'd do two crimping can also be dehydrated so it's better to buy a stone that's already mounted my name is sandy Williams I'm a miner part-time and also a guide I work for an opal mine here you're with us in our home underground we're about 20 meters underground the house has been a mine since 1917 there have only been two owners her previous owner was named Freddie sauerkraut he lived as if he was still in the mind no electricity no running water we've modernized it made it more comfortable to live [Music] ten years then Sydney man up here my name is Damien Cody my name is Damien Cody I own a company that exports opals worldwide we're going to the source to find some of the best stones with our business we have to go to the source to to find the stones we have we have rough opal but in many cases the opal is cut by the miner himself the opal predominantly the most the most high-quality opals come from here from lightning ridge here we find black opals the black opal Queensland their Boulder opals in Queensland and and most of the clear opal comes from Coober Pedy so we go by it everywhere and many miners come directly to us for sale we sell our opal around the world in Europe the german-speaking countries our biggest buyers Switzerland Germany Austria in Paris it works well in the big fashion houses we've also participated in many exhibitions France has begun to be very interesting for us we've done a number of trade exhibitions in France and so France is another country that's becoming more and more important for us I haven't seen some pieces in a while be nice to see something good I have some nice pieces here it's warm enough I think 45 degrees last week we started working at 6 a.m. and finish at 1 p.m. it's good to see you found the nabhi there are many veins here yes I have a team working for me at Wyoming we have a few nabhi in a little vein you want how much for that green 5 grand where's how much 9 carats yeah I'd rather do 4,500 can you go for $4,700 cut it in half we'll talk later in Paris I have clients in Paris and fine jewelry and what interests the most is the blue/green just a nice Bluegreen material yeah even even nice nice creep even the pretty crystal you have some right now a little not much there are a lot of blue green but not a lot of crystal if I find it I'll put it aside for you Anthony is a minor at lightning ridge and when he finds beautiful stones he has them cut by a lapidary hello hello Anthony come in yeah how are you okay what are you bringing me today look at this nice look at that one pretty color we'll clean it quickly let's see what it's worth a carved stone can in general bring a larger profit but this is always a danger for example once carved if the stone might be much less interesting than expected it can also break there's a defect in the middle but if you can come back tomorrow your pieces will be ready in the afternoon okay let's hope there'll be some good ones see you tomorrow my name is Kristine Rochelle I love opal I live and breathe it I work on the raw opal that the miners bring me we all hope to find sellable gems it's money for them after all and hopefully they are all hoping to find a gemstone they can sell it's all money and they work very hard for their money and I have to try very hard to cut some the miners work a lot and I have to work hard to get something nice for the market it's wonderful for them when they find it for them if they find some for centuries the opal was considered the stone that was lucky Shakespeare said it was the miracle and queen of stones in the nineteenth century a superstition darkened its image its origin is largely due to Walter Scott's novel and of Gerstein where the heroine that Warren opal experienced various misadventures misinterpretation of the novel was amplified by some diamond sellers of the time worried about the success of this other stone mostly is it's like what I like most about opals it's like a Pandora's box they slowly reveal more and more colors but sometimes more and more problems which can be disastrous opal is a product of nature and we must work with her lapidaries also participated in this curse indeed very fragile this stone must be cut very carefully to reveal its beauty broken the client refused to pay for the work of the artisan this punishment was less than that inflicted by king louis xi on his lapidary who had both hands cut off for having broken the beautiful opal he'd been entrusted with cutters that had been injured spread the rumour that the stone was unlucky and should be avoided at the time the rumour made its way in sales of opals collapsed by 50% 42.2 it's really pretty yes [Music] [Music] Damien has precise orders informed by his contacts there's an exceptional stone corresponding to his search he goes directly to the mine [Music] tell me you're fawning a bit I heard you found some yes a little good good I have one here a nice piece of nabhi wonderful what do you think not bad at all it's precise it's for sale everything's for sale everything's for sale even your grandmother I'll give it to you for 20 I'll give it to you for $20,000 how much does it weigh 42 carats yep sixteen thousand sixteen your tongue tough you know me I don't change seventeen seven eight you drive a hard bargain mine you drive a hard bargain okay it's concluded seventeen thousand dollars okay [Music] you [Music] having collected the necessary piece Damian returns to his Sydney office his precious bounty is immediately stored in a safe waiting to be sold or exported [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] got some fabulous material I have some fabulous blue green black opals that would be perfect for your jeweler customer I can have it you can have it in Paris in a week within seven days you'll adore it it's beautiful bye-bye [Music] in the great tradition of its masters the jeweler has artfully crafted the metal set the stones with precision to give this work more strength than beauty as if by alchemy the jewel has taken shape to give birth to this magical serpent [Music] in the land of dreams was the incarnation of a God who when he disappeared left to man the only thing he would never be able to create the offal [Music] you

Channel: Voillot Patrick

Views: 401,952

Rating: 4.609129 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, gemmologist, gemstone, precious stones, gemmology, Patrick Voillot, pierre précieuse, jewelry, stone, movie, tv, frenchtv, jeweler, prices, million dollars, expedition, mine, mining, Place Vendôme, Australia, the Queen of Stones, deposits, Coober Pedy, fossil, dinosaur, black opals, Dior, Victoire de Castellane

Id: fEHgJKZh4XM

Length: 51min 28sec (3088 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 22 2019