With 50 years of experience and hundreds of successful exhibitions under his belt, Luciano Bortone is a professional Opal expert and artist who has always been drawn to the beauty of color, form and design.

Luciano was born on the beautiful Adriatic coastal city of Trieste, Italy. At the age of 2, he emigrated to Australia where he was inspired by his uncle, who lived in the mining town of Coober Pedy to study the most precious and rare gem, Opal.

At the age of 18, he was accepted into an apprenticeship with a world-renowned Opal cutter. His natural talent for bringing out the unique beauty of the rough stone, precision in cutting and working with the precious gem was quickly recognized and won Luciano many accolades nationally and internationally. From that point there was no turning back.

Encouraged and passionate, Luciano ventured further into developing his talents as a master artisan, lapidarist and goldsmith. He traveled the United States and Europe to find jewelry stores and galleries to represent his Opal collection, eventually landing accounts with some of the top art galleries and high-end department and jewelry stores in the U.S.

For 20 years Luciano has been a celebrated artist at the famous Festival of Arts (home to the Pageant of the Masters) in Laguna Beach, California. He has also held many exhibitions at Celebration of Fine Arts Scottsdale, Arizona, as well as the famous Sausalito Art Festival, California and many other places.

Although Luciano's jewelry designs have evolved over the last 30 years, his design philosophy of focusing on simplicity and authenticity has remained the same. He works on every aspect of the creation of his pieces from their inception to their completion and this attention to detail in his work is beautifully translated into the perfection of his designs.

Luciano believes jewelry is an unspoken projection of each individual's personality and therefore it should be fabricated with pure love and vision in mind. Luciano's jewelry designs are created using only the finest quality Opal and other precious and semi-precious stones combined with unsurpassed precision inlay and top quality craftsmanship.