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GV Research

Opal auction records

Recorded results for opal at auction: 3. Every row carries the realised total and the price per carat. Origin, weight, disclosed treatment and the laboratory report are shown wherever the catalogue entry stated them.

Lots
3
Unsold
0
Origins
1
Last read
Aug 22, 2026
Highest realised · opal, USD

USD 138,975

The Cathedral Window, a fine black opal with pattern

8.90 ct · Australia

Bonhams · Fine Gems, Opals and Lapidary Arts including Property of a Midwest Collector · May 02, 2023bonhams.com

The total the lot achieved, including the buyer’s premium as the house published it. Highest in this ledger, not a claim about every sale ever held.

Highest per carat · opal, USD

USD 15,615.17

The Cathedral Window, a fine black opal with pattern

8.90 ct · Australia

Bonhams · Fine Gems, Opals and Lapidary Arts including Property of a Midwest Collector · May 02, 2023bonhams.com

Derived from a realised price and a recorded weight. This is the figure the trade compares across sizes, and it is often a different lot from the one beside it.

Trade read

Per-carat benchmarks for opal

No band yet holds the 3 comparable lots in one currency that a range needs. Thin bands are suppressed rather than smoothed.

The ledger

Every opal lot recorded

Realised and per carat are two columns of the same table, set at the same size. Order it by whichever you came for. Unsold lots stay in place with their estimates, because what did not sell is a price signal too.

Order by
Auction results recorded for opal, with realised price, price per carat and source for each lot.
SaleLotRealisedPer carat
Lot 141Bonhams8.90 ct · Australiabonhams.comUSD 138,975USD 15,615.17
UnnumberedBonhams60.46 ct · Australiabonhams.comUSD 134,500Estimate USD 120,000 – USD 150,000USD 2,224.61
Lot 4365Bonhams263.18 ct · Australia · None · American Gemological Laboratories, LLCbonhams.comUSD 120,000USD 455.96

Sources

Every catalogue entry behind the figures on this page, with the date each was read. Where a house has since amended its published result, that date tells you which version this record reflects.

  • Fine Gems, Opals and Lapidary Arts including Property of a Midwest CollectorBonhamsbonhams.com
  • The World of Opals, The Splendour of GoldBonhamsbonhams.com
  • Natural HistoryBonhamsbonhams.com