PoodlesharkOPALS • PHOTOS • OTHER STUFF
Have a wander.
You may be here
for a while.

POODLESHARK

Small pieces of
ridiculous colour.

Australian opal is the main obsession. Then there are the photographs, old travels, night skies, oddities and whatever else has accumulated along the way.

If an opal has a price on it, it’s for sale. Everything else is here because it seemed worth keeping.

See the opals →Fall into the gallery →
Australian opal
The trouble
usually starts here
Australian opal — one of quite a few
01

The Opals

Finished stones, rubs, rough, picture stones and things still waiting for a decision.

Go rummaging → 02

The Gallery

Thousands of photographs. Some good. Some bad. Some with no defensible reason for existing.

Start wandering → 03

The Shed

Rough to rub to finished stone, plus mistakes, sand, potch and occasional triumph.

See what happened → 04

Other Stuff

Travel, stories, forgotten bits and things that do not belong anywhere else. This has never stopped us before.

Proceed unwisely →

THE MAIN OBSESSION

Australian opal

Poodleshark began with opal and that remains the heart of the place. Some stones are finished, some are half-way there, and some are still making up their minds.

Simple rule: if there’s a price, it’s available. No price means it’s simply here because it’s interesting.

Bright Lightning Ridge opal

A SMALL TASTER

Six different bits of opal

White, crystal, picture, rough, rub and black. Not a shop window so much as six ways opal can misbehave.

PHOTOS ARE FOR LOOKING AT

Want to use one?

Most ordinary Poodleshark gallery photos can be available for personal, educational and non-commercial use with a simple credit to Poodleshark / poodleshark.com.

For commercial use, publishing, high-resolution originals, or anything you are unsure about, just ask first. Individual images can be marked differently where needed.

Ask about a photo →

THE SHED

Rough → rub → perhaps something magnificent

Cutting opal is less a manufacturing process than a negotiation. Follow the colour, remove the sand, swear at the potch, and try not to grind away the bit you actually wanted.

The 90% of 90% rule

A big parcel of rough is not a big parcel of finished gems. Most of the weight disappears long before a polished stone arrives.

Potential is not yield. That is part of the fun and occasionally most of the vocabulary.

Browse the cabinet →
Lightning Ridge opal rubOpal cutting stageNearly finished opal rub

THE CABINET

Opals you can actually rummage through

Finished stones, rubs, rough, specimens and glorious oddities. Some have prices. Some are simply part of the cabinet.

ABOUT POODLESHARK

An accumulation rather than a business plan

Drawers, jars, packets, finished stones, rough, photographs, old travels and a suspicious number of things described as “just lying around”. Poodleshark is a home for the bits worth looking at.

The opal came first. The rest of the site is allowed to wander.

Not every opal needs a grand story. Sometimes it just needs to be bloody beautiful.

If you do happen to want one…

Buying is part of Poodleshark, not the whole point of it. Anything carrying a price can be enquired about. The boring-but-important details are here when you need them.

The actual stone

The listing shows the actual opal photographed — not a representative stone or stock image.

Honest descriptions

Weight, dimensions, origin and type are stated where known. If something is uncertain, we say so.

Tracked shipping

Australian orders are sent with tracking. Higher-value stones may require signature or additional cover.

Your rights remain your rights

Australian Consumer Law applies. Nothing in the site policies removes those protections.

Shipping & ReturnsPrivacyContact

Questions, opals, photographs, whatever

If something on the site catches your eye, ask.

hello@poodleshark.com
Enquire about this stone