Kalgoorlie-Boulder JLK Artistry pop-up shop unveils one-of-a-kind $125,000 gold quartz ‘masterpiece’

A one-of-a-kind gold quartz “masterpiece” with a $125,000 price tag has been unveiled at a pop-up jewellery shop in Kalgoorlie-Boulder during this year’s Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum. The piece is on display at the JLK Artistry shop which showcases handcrafted jewellery featuring gemstones from the Goldfields. Jewellery designer Julianne Karavitis said the unique Horizon “masterpiece” is the work of lapidarist Murray Thompson, who created it — along with a range of jewellery items — from an 8kg gold quartz slab from a Kambalda mine site. “We would normally cut this entire beautiful gem material to make necklaces, pendants, all these sorts of things that you can purchase all around the world with different suppliers,” she said. “Murray was making some small butterfly pairs so he will cut through the middle . . . and open it up and then beautifully polish (it) and he thought, ‘Well, why not do something spectacular?’ and made this incredible piece. “It’s never been done before anywhere in the world.” Ms Karavitis said each gold quartz item in the pop-up shop was unique. “That’s the beauty of what materials we have in the Goldfields, with natural artwork, no two pieces are the same,” she said. “You can come in and get a beautiful specimen that was cut off the block for $500 or you can look at something that is world-class museum material for $125,000 — it’s very vast what we have.” As a lapidarist, Mr Thompson cuts precious gems — something he said was among the oldest professions in the world. He said his work was limited only by the imagination and when he laid eyes on the Kambalda gold quartz he saw an opportunity to innovate. “The plan was to cut it out for boxes and match sets, and then I realised, ‘Hey, what’s the potential here?’” he said. “They are only three millimetres thick and it’s an art to set them up in such a way that you can grind and polish them. “I just love the aesthetic of that and when I saw it laid out, I thought we have to have this in a box.” The pop-up shop on Hannan Street will remain open until Saturday.