Fourth-generation Australian jewelry designer Margot McKinney is best known for two things: beautifully matched, oversize South Sea pearls and deep-hued, painterly boulder opals. “As soon as I saw this opal,” McKinney says of the center stone, hand-selected in Queensland, “I knew it was destined to be a statement piece.” The Heron Reef opal ring takes its name from “one of the most breathtakingly pristine locations on the Great Barrier Reef, a place where the ocean shimmers in endless hues of blues and greens.” For ­McKinney, this is more than just a piece of jewelry: “It is an homage to Australia’s unparalleled natural beauty and to the richness of our land and sea.”

GAME OF STONES

Centered with a 26.69 ct. Australian opal, the 18k yellow gold ring features 58.52 cts. t.w. paraiba tourmaline; 1.77 cts. t.w. diamonds; 1.74 cts. t.w. blue, 0.57 ct. t.w. pink, 0.67 ct. t.w. purple, and 0.89 ct. t.w. green sapphires; 0.91 ct. t.w. tsavorite; 0.7 ct. t.w. peridot; and 0.8 ct. t.w. pink tourmaline.

OPAL ESSENCE

“Boulder opals have a unique way of telling their own story,” McKinney says. “This one had such a commanding presence. It became clear it needed to be a ring—one that would be both wearable and sculptural.”

WATER COLORS

“Heron Island, which sits within Heron Reef, has always been a place of wonder for me,” McKinney says. “The way sunlight dances across the water and the electric blues of the shallows blending into the rich teals of deeper waters—it is nature’s own masterpiece.”