Our story
Second generation at the wheel.
Powell Opal Co is a family workshop. Our aunt and uncle have been buying rough opal, cutting it themselves, and setting it by hand for more than thirty years — and we are the generation taking it forward.
How a piece is made
It starts with rough. Welo opal from Ethiopia, boulder opal from Australia — parcels bought on trust, from people we have bought from for decades. Every stone is cut here, on our own wheels, to the shape the rough wants to be: a broad flash gets a wide cabochon, a rolling fire gets a drop that moves.
Then the setting is designed around that one stone, and it is bezel-set by hand at our bench in solid 14k or 22k gold or sterling silver. The piece is finished and polished, and it goes into the case exactly once — because there will never be another quite like it.
For thirty years that work has gone to independent jewelers: at the Tucson and Las Vegas shows, and by pick box to stores who know that when a box arrives from us, every piece in it has been through the same hands.
The next generation
We are Melissa and Garrett — brother and sister, best friends since day one, and now the people learning the wheel, the buying, and the relationships that make this work.
What we are adding is the part the shows could never do: this site. Approved buyers see every piece the day it leaves the bench, reserve it online, and get a pick box without waiting for our next show. What we are keeping is everything else.
With love,
Melissa & Garrett
What we stand behind
Every piece handmade
Cut, set and finished by hand, one piece at a time. There is no production run, so each piece takes the time it takes.
Solid metal only
14k and 22k gold and sterling silver, bezel-set by hand. Never plated, never filled, never synthetic.
One of a kind
Each setting is designed around the pattern, color and fire of its stone. When a piece sells, that is the end of it.
Free repairs, always
Loose stone, worn bezel, resizing — send it back and we make it right, for as long as you carry it.
Swap-friendly
A piece that does not move in your case can be exchanged for new work. No cash refunds; the credit goes to new pieces.
Two shows a year
Tucson and Las Vegas. Come see the stones move, or reserve online between shows and get first pick of every batch.