Episode 4: Discover the Allure of Opals with Christine Ryan

Podcast
Written By Lois Melbourne
 

I met Christine at an art festival, looked into a case full of opals, and realized not one of them would ever exist again.

Christine Ryan makes one of a kind jewelry from natural Australian opals, and she is the first to tell you the stone refuses to cooperate. Opal does not cut to a standard. It does not mass produce. No two stones have ever carried the same arrangement of color. Christine melts her own silver, forges every piece by hand, and buys straight from Australian miners, and fifteen years ago she was not a jeweler at all. She thought jewelry was a box you checked, something you put on because you were supposed to, until her husband handed her a handcrafted ring on an ordinary Tuesday. In this episode we talk about why a vivid blue can outvalue a weak red, the softness myth that keeps people from wearing the stone they love, setting an opal with a hammer on camera, and why she turned the traditional hoop earring sideways so the art finally has room to show.

  • 00:04 Lois opens wearing her own opals, including a shadow box necklace she found in a small family owned shop in Australia more than twenty years ago

    01:53 Why Christine works almost exclusively in opal, and the ring from her husband that started it

    02:40 One customer, one ring design, and a different opal for every woman in her family

    03:59 White, blue, and red opals, and the fireworks analogy that explains the difference

    04:22 Why 95 percent of opal comes from Australia, and where Mexican fire opal fits in

    06:15 October has the most exciting birthstone available and most people do not know it

    06:29 The softness myth, the hardness scale, and why nobody worries about pearls

    09:00 The real reason opal intimidates jewelers, and it is not fragility

    10:10 Setting an opal with a hammer, on camera, on purpose

    11:28 Silver, gold, and the copper bracelet that surprised her

    14:38 What makes one opal more valuable than another, and why difference beats perfection

    16:39 The party stone: confetti, glitter, and why you should take your opal into the sunshine

    17:39 Balancing art festivals with bench time, and what she learns eavesdropping in her own booth

    20:20 Does she ever struggle to part with a piece

    21:40 Jewelry as an evolution rather than a starting point

    23:05 YouTube university, one real class, and learning by trial and error

    25:16 The Garden Party earrings and why turning the circle beats the traditional hoop

    27:33 Where to find her work, plus the fall art show schedule

    30:01 Fifteen years in and still having fun

Find Christine and Christine Ryan Designs:

Fall 2026 Art Shows Schedule:

Monte Sano Art Festival

September 19–20, 2026
Monte Sano State Park
5105 Nolen Avenue
Huntsville, Alabama 35801

Saturday: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM–4:00 PM

https://www.artshuntsville.org/event/monte-sano-arts-festival/

Pink Palace Crafts Fair

September 25–27, 2026
Pink Palace Museum & Mansion
3050 Central Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38111

https://moshmemphis.com/pink-palace-crafts-fair/

Bluff Park Art Show

October 3, 2026
Bluff Park Community Park
517 Cloudland Drive
Hoover, Alabama 35226

9:00 AM–5:00 PM

https://www.bluffparkartassociation.org/show-day-details

Bayou City Art Festival — Memorial Park

October 9–11, 2026
Memorial Park
South Picnic Lane
Houston, Texas 77007

10:00 AM–6:00 PM daily

https://www.bayoucityartfestival.com/festival-info

ARToberFEST

October 17–18, 2026
Historic Downtown Galveston
Postoffice Street between 20th and 23rd Streets
Galveston, Texas

https://www.artoberfest.com/

Art Worth

October 23–25, 2026
The Shops at Clearfork
5135 Monahans Avenue
Fort Worth, Texas 76109

Friday & Saturday: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
Sunday: 11:00 AM–4:00 PM

https://artworthfest.org/

Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival

November 6–8, 2026
Seville Square
301 South Alcaniz Street
Pensacola, Florida 32502

Friday & Saturday: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM–4:00 PM

https://www.ggaf.org/

Three Rivers Art Festival

November 14–15, 2026
Downtown Covington
Columbia Street
Covington, Louisiana

10:00 AM–5:00 PM both days

https://www.covingtonthreeriversartfestival.com/

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Lois Melbourne
Next

Episode 3: Jewelry Inspired by the Outdoors