The National Opal Collection
The National Opal Collection
3.5
Speciality & Gift ShopsSpeciality MuseumsNatural History MuseumsHistory Museums
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Monday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
10:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:30 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The award winning National Opal Collection is amongst Australia’s most fascinating attractions, where you will discover the incredible link between opal and the dinosaur. As you enter, you are surrounded by dioramas of Australia’s outback and then taken through time from the dinosaur age to modern day opal production. Exhibits show how bones of prehistoric creatures can become opalised. Adjoining the museum is the spectacular showroom with Australia’s largest range of opals and opal jewellery.
Duration: < 1 hour
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Central Business District
The Sydney Central Business District is abuzz with energy. Power brokers run to and from high rise buildings and after-work drink places, high-end shoppers tour venues like the QVB, and fine diners frequent the many celebrity chef restaurants. For a dose of culture, walk to the NSW Art Gallery, or visit the Sydney Museum. To escape the hustle and bustle, reconnect with nature at the Sydney Botanical Gardens or picnic lunch at High Park. No matter your interest, be sure to check the full calendar of events hosted by the city, from the Sydney Festival in January to October’s Good Food Month at Hyde Park.
How to get there
- Wynyard • 5 min walk
- Circular Quay • 5 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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3.5
64 reviews
Excellent
20
Very good
22
Average
7
Poor
5
Terrible
10
Cosmo
100 contributions
Apr 2023 • Family
Had very limited knowledge about opals prior to our visit. Now we know the link between opals and dinosaurs, mining etc. As we were the only visitors at the time, we got a little guided tour in both museum and shop.
Quality souvenirs from A$100 to A$30000+
Definitely a place to visit when parsing by or the area.
Quality souvenirs from A$100 to A$30000+
Definitely a place to visit when parsing by or the area.
Written 10 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CJKephart
Flower Mound, TX10 contributions
Mar 2024 • Couples
Even reading other reviews, we knew it was more of a sales showroom vs a museum tho so many people said they "learned alot" too. Very, very disappointing as a museum. Found more of what we were looking for (& purer) @ "Volle", next to Queen Victoria Mall! Volle's was much cheaper too & did ALL the paperwork for VAT & didnt charge the VAT either (just need to drop paperwork off).
Written 4 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bridgett B
Baltimore, MD5 contributions
Dec 2023 • Family
Had earrings bought as a gift from them in 2019. The opals were beautiful. One opal fell out after 3 times of wearing. Waited 4 years to come back to Sydney from the States to have them fix it. They refused to fix them without my receipt. She said bring your receipt and we will look. I told her it was 4 years ago and they should have a record of the purchase . She still refused. They do not stand behind their work and she told me to take the earrings to a jeweler to have them fix it. If they made quality merchandise from the beginning then they would have stayed together. Do not purchase from them unless you are prepared to take to a jeweler to have them fix it correctly or hold onto a receipt forever and hope they will fix it.
Written 6 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tour36308370193
Calgary, Canada15 contributions
Feb 2023 • Couples
The museum is amazing! We learned so much, including that opal is found in dinosaur bones.
Who knew!?
And the store is large with well sorted collections of boulder, white and black opals, along with a few man made ones and some matrix.
The staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. We were gifted with Alex, who shared so much fascinating information with us and helped us to make selections with no push to upsell. I highly recommend a visit to the National Opal Company in Sydney. It’s the best!
Who knew!?
And the store is large with well sorted collections of boulder, white and black opals, along with a few man made ones and some matrix.
The staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. We were gifted with Alex, who shared so much fascinating information with us and helped us to make selections with no push to upsell. I highly recommend a visit to the National Opal Company in Sydney. It’s the best!
Written 18 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amy L
29 contributions
Jan 2019 • Family
My twin 13 year old sons found a coupon for “free opal” in the book about Sydney that was in our hotel (The Four Seasons). They were super excited to go, learn about gem stones and redeem their coupons. I was also looking forward to going as I intended to buy an opal as a memento from our trip. The fine print said bring a passport and a airline ticket stub from overseas. We gathered the documents and went to the store.
Upon entering the decor made us think that it was friendly, decorated with dinosaurs and “museum” like. Our wonder quickly ceased upon being greeted and treated with rudeness. The man behind the counter asked us what brought us in. I told him and he said that the coupons were meant to bring people in the store to SHOP. I replied to him indicating my intention to shop and to buy. He clearly didn’t believe me or didn’t care. He then said that the coupons were only for adults and he would only give us one free gift - a stick-pin (with a minuscule opal) even though we had 3 coupons, 3 passports and 3 plane tickets. Please note there is NO age limit indicated on the coupon. He tossed the stick-pin across the counter and turned away. I felt bad and my sons felt bad and felt embarrassed. We were treated dismissively and rudely.
Upon leaving we went to a store called Opal Minded who had amazing customer service. They taught us all about the wonderful Australian opals and we happily purchased from them.
Upon entering the decor made us think that it was friendly, decorated with dinosaurs and “museum” like. Our wonder quickly ceased upon being greeted and treated with rudeness. The man behind the counter asked us what brought us in. I told him and he said that the coupons were meant to bring people in the store to SHOP. I replied to him indicating my intention to shop and to buy. He clearly didn’t believe me or didn’t care. He then said that the coupons were only for adults and he would only give us one free gift - a stick-pin (with a minuscule opal) even though we had 3 coupons, 3 passports and 3 plane tickets. Please note there is NO age limit indicated on the coupon. He tossed the stick-pin across the counter and turned away. I felt bad and my sons felt bad and felt embarrassed. We were treated dismissively and rudely.
Upon leaving we went to a store called Opal Minded who had amazing customer service. They taught us all about the wonderful Australian opals and we happily purchased from them.
Written 10 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Candy M
19 contributions
Jan 2019 • Couples
They market this place as a museum. Learned very little. Rude staff who didn’t want our business. They were preparing to host a group for a special group. Seemed to not have time for those of us who came to learn (about opals) and buy. Too many other Opal experts in Sydney to put up with their rudeness and shortness they provided to potential customers.
Written 2 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sorry to hear about your less than satisfactory experience. Rest assured this falls well below our normal attentive and courteous service. I will discuss your comments with our staff. Thank you for taking the trouble to let us know.
Written 5 January 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Logan8819
Birmingham, UK1 contribution
Mar 2016 • Couples
I have never experienced such terrible customer service, looking back I am surprised I even bought from them.
We took a once in a life time trip to Australia and I really wanted to come back with an opal. I had googled where to go and I hoped we could stop in a few places whilst we were there. Don't get me wrong they have some amazing opals in their little museum section, including rare fossilised pieces and gigantic 'nut' boulders. I would actually recommend going to see what they have- just be careful about buying anything from them! They claim to be cheaper as they control the whole process from mine to shop and I genuinely understand the need to sell items at a retail price because of expensive premises etc. but they are still overpriced.
Right from the beginning the guy who served me was quite patronising, as I looked though the loose opals I mentioned that I liked the colour of the one in his ring and instead of saying 'ok lets see what we have close in your price' range he basically told me his was extremely expensive and looked at me like 'I am telling you that you can't afford it'. Half way through serving me he then had a conversation with another customer in German. A little further into the sale he told me a story about a customer who made the wrong decision and returned her opal - I believe she may have swapped it but at this point he didn't mention their returns policy. Anyway, I chose an opal which was over what I wanted to pay and sadly now I am back home I regret buying it. I tried to get a bit of discount at the time but he told me that they only offer discount 'to the likes of Chinese tourists as they spend over five thousand dollars'. At no point during the sale was it explained to me that the opal was non refundable and at no point did he turn over the receipt and point out their terms and conditions on the reverse. I did look at it when I got home and basically by omission their 'warrenty' suggests that you can't return anything but I thought I would get in touch and ask as most companies are pretty reasonable.
I used their contact form and I didn't hear anything back. So I emailed them and they asked me to photograph my receipt, which I did, they then replied saying they would send it on to their Sydney store as they were based in Melbourne. I waited and heard nothing. So I emailed again - they asked me for a second time to photograph and send my receipt, so again I did. By this point I was getting frustrated - I thought its a simple question why can't anyone answer me?
Several emails along, David A Doss involved himself and sent me the most horrific email I have ever had the misfortune to read. Apparently he is a 'business development manager' the only thing he achieved was to upset a customer when I read it on a Sunday morning - my one day off. Here is a small section of his email: ( He began with 'Firstly Ms Logan' as if he wanted to make sure I knew he was telling me off before beginning his rant)
"I was in the showroom at the time our sales persons was with you and I clearly heard you mention something about wanting to know if you could have a hole drilled in the stone. So I remember the conversation that took place when you mentioned our return policy and he explained it to you very clearly. The gentleman who sold you the stone would have never told you that you could return it for a refund just because you changed your mind. He has worked here for dozens of years and isn’t on commission and wouldn’t have misled you to just sell you a stone."
First of all this is a peculiar lie - there were two staff in that day - they guy who served me and a woman, who I could be wrong but I am pretty sure was not a David. Two reasons why this is a strange lie - the stone I bought was tiny - if you drilled a hole though it there would be hardly anything left. Secondly I am actually a trained jeweller with a gemmology qualification and if you know anything about opals, you know if would be wrong to drill a hole in one- it would be a bit like drilling through an expensive paining to make it easier to hang. So I can only gather he told the lie about over-hearing me have the returns policy explained in the belief he would not be found out and it would put an end to me daring to ask for a refund.
I began to really want to get rid of the stone so I asked again because they still hadn't actually said no to a refund.
He replied saying I could swap it, how I would choose an opal from the other side of the world I don't know, and by this point I wanted nothing to do with them.
So to finish, I know I paid over the odds - but I was on holiday and I have a great love of gemstones and just desperately wanted to bring a beautiful opal back as a keep sake. It was a big decision to make, as for me it really was a lot of money. Now every time I think about my little opal I also think this company and their horrible attitude.
If you are curious, I did send them one last email as amazingly they still hasn't said no to a refund and they ignored me.
We took a once in a life time trip to Australia and I really wanted to come back with an opal. I had googled where to go and I hoped we could stop in a few places whilst we were there. Don't get me wrong they have some amazing opals in their little museum section, including rare fossilised pieces and gigantic 'nut' boulders. I would actually recommend going to see what they have- just be careful about buying anything from them! They claim to be cheaper as they control the whole process from mine to shop and I genuinely understand the need to sell items at a retail price because of expensive premises etc. but they are still overpriced.
Right from the beginning the guy who served me was quite patronising, as I looked though the loose opals I mentioned that I liked the colour of the one in his ring and instead of saying 'ok lets see what we have close in your price' range he basically told me his was extremely expensive and looked at me like 'I am telling you that you can't afford it'. Half way through serving me he then had a conversation with another customer in German. A little further into the sale he told me a story about a customer who made the wrong decision and returned her opal - I believe she may have swapped it but at this point he didn't mention their returns policy. Anyway, I chose an opal which was over what I wanted to pay and sadly now I am back home I regret buying it. I tried to get a bit of discount at the time but he told me that they only offer discount 'to the likes of Chinese tourists as they spend over five thousand dollars'. At no point during the sale was it explained to me that the opal was non refundable and at no point did he turn over the receipt and point out their terms and conditions on the reverse. I did look at it when I got home and basically by omission their 'warrenty' suggests that you can't return anything but I thought I would get in touch and ask as most companies are pretty reasonable.
I used their contact form and I didn't hear anything back. So I emailed them and they asked me to photograph my receipt, which I did, they then replied saying they would send it on to their Sydney store as they were based in Melbourne. I waited and heard nothing. So I emailed again - they asked me for a second time to photograph and send my receipt, so again I did. By this point I was getting frustrated - I thought its a simple question why can't anyone answer me?
Several emails along, David A Doss involved himself and sent me the most horrific email I have ever had the misfortune to read. Apparently he is a 'business development manager' the only thing he achieved was to upset a customer when I read it on a Sunday morning - my one day off. Here is a small section of his email: ( He began with 'Firstly Ms Logan' as if he wanted to make sure I knew he was telling me off before beginning his rant)
"I was in the showroom at the time our sales persons was with you and I clearly heard you mention something about wanting to know if you could have a hole drilled in the stone. So I remember the conversation that took place when you mentioned our return policy and he explained it to you very clearly. The gentleman who sold you the stone would have never told you that you could return it for a refund just because you changed your mind. He has worked here for dozens of years and isn’t on commission and wouldn’t have misled you to just sell you a stone."
First of all this is a peculiar lie - there were two staff in that day - they guy who served me and a woman, who I could be wrong but I am pretty sure was not a David. Two reasons why this is a strange lie - the stone I bought was tiny - if you drilled a hole though it there would be hardly anything left. Secondly I am actually a trained jeweller with a gemmology qualification and if you know anything about opals, you know if would be wrong to drill a hole in one- it would be a bit like drilling through an expensive paining to make it easier to hang. So I can only gather he told the lie about over-hearing me have the returns policy explained in the belief he would not be found out and it would put an end to me daring to ask for a refund.
I began to really want to get rid of the stone so I asked again because they still hadn't actually said no to a refund.
He replied saying I could swap it, how I would choose an opal from the other side of the world I don't know, and by this point I wanted nothing to do with them.
So to finish, I know I paid over the odds - but I was on holiday and I have a great love of gemstones and just desperately wanted to bring a beautiful opal back as a keep sake. It was a big decision to make, as for me it really was a lot of money. Now every time I think about my little opal I also think this company and their horrible attitude.
If you are curious, I did send them one last email as amazingly they still hasn't said no to a refund and they ignored me.
Written 21 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sorry to read your review and hear you are unhappy with your purchase. I have spoken with our team members who have been involved to date. I am happy to review your request if you would care to email your concerns directly to me damien@nationalopal.com .
I understand you spent nearly two hours in store making your selection and at the time you were very happy. It seems now that something has changed.
For the purposes of clarification we do provide a guarantee which provides a full refund for any faulty or damaged goods. And unlike most jewellery stores we also provide a refund if it can be established that the item you purchased does not represent fair value.
We look forward to ensuring that you are completely satisfied.
Written 20 June 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
carihauptman
Riverton, UT1 contribution
Aug 2018 • Family
Buyers beware in store and online. Despite reading several positive reviews before my visit, I am disappointed and angry about my experience with the Sydney National Opal Collection Store and Museum. I bought a brooch for my stepmom, a ring for myself and one for my teen. I paid 300 AUD for my stepmom’s brooch and on my way out of the store I realized that the National Opal Collection online price was 218 AUD.
I went right back to the store and asked the saleswoman why the difference in price? First I was told it was a different brooch and that the online brooch had 3 opals instead of 4. Which was not true, it was clearly the same brooch on the National Opal Collection’s online store. Then I was told you shouldn't buy opals online because the quality will be poor. I again pointed out that it was the National Opal Collection online store in other words ‘their’ website and then I was told, “well we don't have anything to do with the online store.” The manager said the same thing. Finally, I was told that the opals you buy online from the National Opal Collection are of an inferior quality compared to their Sydney store. At this point I included my stepmom in the conversation via Facebook video messenger and the saleswoman told her, “that the opals online from the National Opal Collection were of an inferior quality and that's why they charged more in their store.” After we ended the call with my step mom, I had a strange conversation with the manager and saleswoman about currency exchange, shipping rates and that another possible reason for the difference in price was that the online store had the incorrect price of 218 AUD and the price was really USD.
I now have serious reservations about the integrity of the National Opal Collection, the quality of my opals and the price I paid for them. I would rather return them as they are a reminder of my horrible experience at the National Opal Collection in Sydney. At the very least they should have refunded the difference.
I went right back to the store and asked the saleswoman why the difference in price? First I was told it was a different brooch and that the online brooch had 3 opals instead of 4. Which was not true, it was clearly the same brooch on the National Opal Collection’s online store. Then I was told you shouldn't buy opals online because the quality will be poor. I again pointed out that it was the National Opal Collection online store in other words ‘their’ website and then I was told, “well we don't have anything to do with the online store.” The manager said the same thing. Finally, I was told that the opals you buy online from the National Opal Collection are of an inferior quality compared to their Sydney store. At this point I included my stepmom in the conversation via Facebook video messenger and the saleswoman told her, “that the opals online from the National Opal Collection were of an inferior quality and that's why they charged more in their store.” After we ended the call with my step mom, I had a strange conversation with the manager and saleswoman about currency exchange, shipping rates and that another possible reason for the difference in price was that the online store had the incorrect price of 218 AUD and the price was really USD.
I now have serious reservations about the integrity of the National Opal Collection, the quality of my opals and the price I paid for them. I would rather return them as they are a reminder of my horrible experience at the National Opal Collection in Sydney. At the very least they should have refunded the difference.
Written 22 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sorry to hear about your experience. Our online store is administered by a separate team and at times the prices can differ. This should have been understood by our staff and you should have been provided the discounted price. I understand we have made arrangements for the refund to be provided to you.
Written 27 August 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
gschaaf2016
Fort Wayne, IN1 contribution
Mar 2016 • Solo
I recently bought an opal at the store in Sydney. After I returned to my hotel I took my Opal out of the bag to model it for my husband. I noticed a small smudge on the back of it that I didn't remember seeing at the store - and wrote it off as "maybe I was imagining things" - as I did look at a few opals. When I returned to the US, I took it to my jeweler for an appraisal. He sent it to his opal specialist who said it was worth $250 - 5 times less than what I had paid for it. Imagine my disappointment. Not sure how a novice, like myself, can determine the opal's quality - but to rely upon the reputation of the establishment. Tough lesson!
Written 26 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sorry to learn that you were not completely satisfied with your purchase. Being a natural product from mother earth, it is common for the back of an opal to have marks, inclusions and soil attached. It does not affect the value of a stone.
We are one of Australia's largest opal providers and we pride ourselves on the quality and value we are able to provide our customers.
I would suggest with all due respect, that the person/s who appraised the stone might fall in to one or both of the following categories: 1. Those who have little or no expertise with opal or 2. The small-minded inexperienced retailer who provides self-serving appraisals designed to do nothing else but run down a “competitor”. If necessary we would be happy to take the matter up with these people.
If you would like me to personally review your case, I would be happy to do so. You can email me directly damien@nationalopal.com .We do provide a guarantee to refund your purchase price if it can be established that you have paid more than the fair price for your product.
We look forward to ensuring your total satisfaction.
Written 20 June 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Donna W
Vancouver, Canada42 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
Brought a solid, loose opal home to Vancouver to be set into a ring, and was told by the jeweler that I had paid $1,000 too much!!! I spent $1,200 in total. He was not kidding. I am depressed and feel like I was really taken for my money. A horrible experience as this was to be our 25th wedding anniversary ring and also my birthstone. I've been told, do not ever purchase opals or pearls in "foreign" countries.
Written 22 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sorry to hear that you were not completely satisfied with your purchase. Apologies for late response which has only just been brought to my attention. We do provide for a full a refund if it can be established that you have paid more than a fair and reasonable price. We are also happy to arrange an exchange. I would be happy to look into this for you if you wish. You can email me damien@nationalopal.com .
With all due respect to your jeweller, we most often find that in cases like this, they fall in to one or both of the following categories: 1. Those who have little or no expertise with opal or 2. The small-minded inexperienced retailer who provides self-serving appraisals designed to do nothing else but run down a “competitor”. If necessary we would be happy to personally take the matter up with these people.
We hope that we can restore your faith in our company and ensure that you are as happy now as you were when you made your purchase.
Written 20 June 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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