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Every January just after the crazy rush of Christmas we have to immediately get organised for the biggest wholesale trade show on the Irish calendar namely Showcase Ireland.  We have been exhibiting at this show for about 5 years now in the Design Ireland section of the show,  an area hosted by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland. Design Ireland showcases 90 of Irelands top designer makers and as always we are very proud to be included in this vetted area. it takes a full day of setting up and always looks a fright before it starts to come together.....

I think that gem quality opal is amongst the most spectacular of gemstones, forget your boring diamonds (I say that with tongue in cheek) but the play of colour on a black opal for example can be mesmerising. The finest quality opals can fetch prices that are up there with the most expensive diamonds and emeralds.

Opal is quite a soft gemstone and has a hardness of 5.5 - 6 on the Mohs scale, because of this it is best suited to brooches or earrings or pendants where it is not coming into contact with daily wear and tear.  When it is set in a ring it is generally bezel set to protect the stone in a metal surround so its not as exposed as it would be in a claw setting.

An opal is termed "precious opal" when it exhibits flashes of iridescent colours when its viewed from different angles, when the stone is moved or when the light source is changed. Its very rare and expensive and found in a limited number of locations worldwide.  The most precious is generally mined in Australia such as this Lightning Rigdge Black Opal below.

  #WearingIrish is a social media initiative that is the brainchild of Margaret Molloy.  Margaret is an Offaly native and now the Global CMO of Siegel+Gale in NYC. Her passion for Irish fashion and design led her to create the #wearingirish initiative in March 2016  to promote and highlight the wealth of talent that Irish design has to offer.  It also led to her #Wearing Irish Designer Directory Building on last years success, Margaret encourages everyone to participate by  taking a picture of yourself wearing Irish made fashion or accessories at least one day during the month of March and...