Australian Gem Hunting With Designer Mia Chicco
October 18, 2017 by Amy Elliott
"As a lifelong East Coaster, whenever I visit California and pop into a supermarket, I’m always a little startled (and dazzled) by the produce aisle. The bountiful selection, vibrant colors and unbelievable freshness are all on a level that puts what we have at home to shame.
When I first met Sydney-based designer Mia Chicco at the JANY show last spring, I was so taken with her opal pieces that I had to wonder: Can physical proximity to a gemstone mine affect the quality of a designer’s work? The way native tomatoes just look and taste better than the standard variety, transforming your homemade marinara sauce into something truly, memorably sublime?
Kind of, yes. Though our industry, with its local diamond districts teeming with desirable stones from faraway lands, is a global one, Chicco maintains that working directly with Australian miners gives her an advantage as far as accessing some of the best opals on the planet.
“My main supplier is based in Winton, Queensland, and spends most of the season mining and then cutting the rough into beautiful shapes,” she says. “He comes to my studio with bags upon bags of incredible stones, ... "
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