TONY AND ERIC THURBER

Tony Thurber is a retired attorney living in Ogden, Utah. Eric is Tony's son, and lives in Salt Lake City. Eric is a former restaurant manager, who now produces inlay jewelry full time.

Tony's interest in opal began early. A meeting with the late master carver Kreg Scully led to the current line of opal inlay jewelry. Tony's production began a few years before Kreg's untimely death. Eric later expressed an interest, and received his training in 2007.

Their object is to produce a setting for fine Australian opal that compliments but does not distract from the opal. They use gold and a variety of host materials including chrysoprase, jade, chalcedony, limb cast agate, petrified wood, landscape jasper, and several types of quartz. They never duplicate a piece (except for earrings). They believe that since every fine opal is different 'just like people'; every piece of opal jewelry should be different as well.

They recently counted the total number of steps involved from rough to polish. To their surprise, there were 42. Tony has written an article about the process for Rock & Gem, and given several seminars, but has found that most folks run out of enthusiasm after the first 10 or 15 steps. It is painstaking work, demanding total attention and lots of patience.

A guarantee goes along with all their pieces, mainly to counter the myth that opal is fragile or unlucky. The way it works is that if anything cracks, crazes, or falls out, they will repair or replace the piece free of charge. It's a lifetime guarantee: their lifetime. That way, the customers should be wishing them well.

Regarding the myth, Tony believes the only thing 'unlucky' about fine opal is not having one! No 'bad luck' events have been reported; and all the buyers who have reported in appear to be alive and happy.

Tony's latest 'how to' article is posted on this website, and in Rock & Gem October 2009 issue. Anyone interested is invited to read the article and give it a try. Calls from those who get 'stuck' are welcome, and come in fairly often.

The inventory may be seen and the process discussed with the artists at several shows each year. Their shows include McDermitt, Nevada (September); Big Sur, California (October); Tyson Wells Rock Show & Pow Wow, Quartzsite, Arizona (January); and Tucson, Arizona (February).

New inventory and production improvements will be posted on this website as they develop. And they indeed will.

Eric did the website and article photography and sister Sue Thurber provided the photo editing and illustrations.

Tony and Eric