Antique Boulder Opal Cameo Ring | Carved Warrior Figure 14k Gold | 1800s Statement Ring

A boulder opal cameo of this scale and subject rarely surfaces on the secondary market. Carved in high relief as a standing warrior figure, the opal shows the natural ironstone matrix as its dark ground, with the figure worked in the stone's own play-of-color — white, blue, and flashes of red moving across the carved surface as the piece turns. The carving technique is notably different from the refined, almost sculptural cameo work associated with later 19th-century opal carvers; the tool marks here are broader, less polished, and consistent with earlier or non-European lapidary methods, which raises the possibility that this opal was carved well before it entered its current 14k gold mount.

The mount itself is tested 14k yellow gold, its oval bezel finished with a fine rope-twist border, dating stylistically to the 1800s.Boulder opal itself is among the rarer opal varieties, sourced exclusively from Queensland, Australia, and carving it at all is a feat given the stone's fragility; a figural cameo carved from boulder opal, rather than the more common white or crystal opal, is rarer still.

This is a piece for a collector drawn to the unresolved questions as much as the object itself — a ring that asks to be researched as much as worn.

Metal: 14k yellow gold, tested

Markings: None visible

Finger Size: 5.5 (inquire about sizing)

Weight: 12.2 grams

Dimensions: 37.5 x 25.9mm / 7.3–2.2mm wide / 9.5mm high off finger

Period: Circa 1800's

Cut: Oval Cameo

Color: White, Blue, and Red

Measurements: 29.6 x 17.5 x 7.2 mm