Do you ever look in a jewellery shop window at all the diamonds, sapphires and rubies and wonder why they are so expensive?

Me too. 

Having been raised in a family of gem hunters and jewellers and surrounded by precious stones my entire life, it boggled my mind.

Mostly, because I see what the real cost of the traded gemstones are and the subsequent retail mark-up of anywhere up to 200% or more.

I was talking to my father about this, while we were sorting and cataloguing his 3,000+ gemstone collection. This was followed by a conversation about legacy. The living with and leaving behind something meaningful.



With my fathers vast gemmology knowledge built up over 60+ years, plus my lived family experience, we struck upon a way to share our gemstone legacy. 

I knew we had something special that we could build upon and share with you. The pure wonder of real opals and gemstones, for an accessible price, so they can be enjoyed by more.

We launched Cara Gemstones as an extension of my brand, Cara Cashmere, in 2022. All the limited edition pieces we created sold out, so we knew there were others out there wanting to experience these beautiful stones in this way too.

After 2 years, we decided that the gemstones needed their own space. I created Lurlina (which is also my middle name) as a dedicated site to all these beautiful stones, especially the Australian opal, which has been the major presence in our lives for many decades. You can read about our mine, Big Red, here.

Our mission has been brought to life; to create affordable, real gemstone-studded Australian jewellery to add a little luxury for your everyday lifestyle.

We are not limited by what you see on our site, please get in touch if there is something specific you are looking for. It is likely we either have it or can easily source it for you.

Sharing our love for stunning gemstones and beautiful jewellery,

Annie 
Founder, Lurlina

**My father, Ross Chapman, is a Tutor and Fellow of the Gemmological Institute.