News & Trends: After several hundred years of silence from the opal, finally a sound can be heard. Katherine Jetter presents the first luxury Australian Opal Jewelry Brand the industry has ever seen.

The Australian native created her line featuring the opal, the Daintree Rainforest Collection, to commemorate the natural landscapes of her birthplace and focus on a gem so rarely seen in luxury jewelry designs today.

When looking at an opal, however, it is hard to deny its spectacular impact and the exclusivity the look implies, so one can't help but wonder why it has been so absent, and for so long.

A wide range of opal color classifications exist relating to the background hues of the gemstone, making it not only beautiful, but versatile. The stones vary from black, blue, green, pink, red, white and crystal (or transparent white). On top of their "background hue" are the color patterns and interplay of colors found within the stone, which results in a one-of-a-kind appearance.

Although the stone first originated from ancient mines in Czechoslovakia, 96% of the world's opals today are found and mined in Australia. Since the first discovery of the unique gem near Angaston, Australia has become the premier producer and distributor of opals in the world.

Katherine Jetter's distinctive collection of luxury jewelry designed specifically to highlight the intricacies of the opal pay tribute to the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. The pieces take their inspiration from the lush greenery and exotic flowers of the rainforest.

Jetter has expertly chosen only the finest, purest opals to include in her designs, which are then sculpted to an intricate level of detail allowing the gemstone to showcase each of its individual hues and flashes of color.

All the designs are available in sterling silver or can be made according to taste in 18K white or yellow gold. In addition to the stunning opals, Jetter also uses dramatic green Tsavorites, red rubies, aquamarine briolettes and more high-quality stones as accents in her pieces.

Since the discovery of the gem, opal has been coveted and sought-out by the world's most powerful and influential icons: the stone is favored by Queen Elizabeth and Napoleon gave a large, red opal called "The Burning of Troy" to his empress, Josephine. Now, the opal is back thanks to Katherine Jetter's spectacular designs and we can enjoy the stone just as royalty did.

For JustLuxe Kate Prihoda