Heat Resistant Cultured Opals Bust Open New Creative Possibilities for Jewelers with Holly Gage
May 13 - 19, 2026
Go to Sinter Event
https://sinterevent.com/presentation/holly-gage-heat-resistant-cultured-opals/
 
Heat Resistant Cultured Opals Bust Open New Creative Possibilities for Jewelers
As the winner of the AMCAW Innovation Grant Award for Holly’s groundbreaking work in developing firing techniques for Fire in Place Cultured Opals in jewelry,
Holly has a lot to share about using them in Metal Clay and also using Metal Clay scrap to cast these Cultured Opals in Place. Jewelers have been told Natural Opals cannot be cast in place in molten metal or fired in place in Metal Clay, and they need to be set traditionally with bezels or prongs for inclusion in their jewelry.
 
This is because it will become mere dust if you put extreme heat on it. This all changed when we discovered a Cultured Opal that can take heat up to 1650ºF / 900ºC. She will give you how-to information on practices for using Opals in both Metal Clay and Sand Casting.

Go to Sinter Event
https://sinterevent.com/presentation/holly-gage-heat-resistant-cultured-opals/