Renata Bernard

Through the Australian jewelry brand Opal Minded, Renata Bernard creates contemporary jewelry featuring gorgeous opals sourced from Australia's renowned opal mines. Her pendant necklaces, cocktail rings and dangle earrings showcase the beauty of the multicolored gemstone. She also designs one-of-a-kind opal engagement rings as striking alternatives to classic diamond rings.

Bernard moved to Australia from Eastern Europe in 1994 with only $100 in her wallet. She met and later married John Bernard, who had founded Opal Minded in Sydney in 1989. The brand is dedicated solely to opal jewelry made from stones unearthed from its own Queensland mines. While Australia is not the only source of opals in the world, it provides some of the rarest and most sought-after stones.

An ex-academic with a Ph.D. in cinema, Bernard fell in love with opals after meeting her husband. She became an accredited gemologist and valuer and took up the position of creative director at Opal Minded. She now designs every piece of Opal Minded jewelry in-house at the company’s design studio in the Dymocks Building in Sydney. The pieces are sold in Opal Minded’s chic boutique in The Rocks, a historic Sydney neighborhood.

Bernard reveals the inner beauty of Australian opals with jewelry ranging from understated bracelets that allow the stones to shine to glamorous necklaces with sparkling diamond embellishments. She finds inspiration everywhere, such as the organic forms in nature and the clean lines of modern architecture. By approaching every stone individually, she creates keepsakes made to be passed down through generations.

On 1stDibs, find Renata Bernard necklaces, rings, earrings and more.