W. C. Eyles

Wilfred Charles Eyles, author of The Book of Opals (1964), was a mineralogist, lapidary, and international dealer in opal.

Eyles was born on 1 August 1891 in Camden, New South Wales, the son of Charles and Alice Eyles. From an early age he developed a passion for minerals and lapidary work, a pursuit that eventually took him overseas. He mined opal not only in Australia but also in Mexico and at Rainbow Ridge, Nevada, at the time the only commercial opal deposit in the United States. By the 1950s, he was working exclusively as an opal dealer.

Between 1953 and 1956, Eyles returned to Australia four times, travelling to Lightning Ridge, Grawin, Andamooka, and Coober Pedy. He met miners in the field, observed their methods, and documented the harsh conditions under which they worked. His letters and writings vividly captured the outback’s isolation, scarcity of water, and the loneliness endured by early prospectors.

Eyles’s observations are recorded in his book The Book of Opals, in which he brought together his scientific training, practical experience as a cutter, and fieldwork as a miner. He argued that only such a combination could do justice to the complexity of opal, which he called “probably the world’s most interesting gem stone.” In addition to his own research, he also recorded the legacy of earlier figures such as Percy Marks, whose Sydney collection of opal he described as the finest he had ever seen.

A correspondent of Dr. H. C. Dake, editor of The Mineralogist, Eyles was encouraged to produce a comprehensive history and study of opal, weaving together geology, mining lore, and the human cost of discovery. He dedicated his work to the “hardy, courageous souls” who endured hardship and danger in the Australian outback to bring the gem to light.

Wilfred Charles Eyles died on 20 August 1968 at Marrickville, New South Wales, aged 77, and was cremated at Rookwood Necropolis.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney and Russell Gawthorpe, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Book of Opals, 1964, W. C. Eyles; ‘We Hear from Wilfred Eyles’, The Lapidary Journal, June 1953, pp. 173-178, ‘Amateur Gem Cutter’, The Desert Magazine, January 1947, p. 37.