Member

Biographical Info

As the only all opal jewelry gallery in the nation, The Opal Man offers a unique and distinctive shopping experience. They have a stunning selection of opal jewelry and opals that display the tremendous diversity of color which sets opal apart from all other precious gems. You will find light opals, black opals, boulder opals, mexican and ethiopian opals in “one-of-a-kind” settings of gold and silver that you can wear as pendants, rings, earrings, or bracelets.

More than a jewelry store; it is also an artisan studio. They obtain opal in the rough from the mines of Australia and artfully cut and polish the stones on their lapidary wheels (located in the store). The opal starts at the far end of the shop where the saw reveals the first look of hidden treasure beneath. It then passes through several wheels for grinding and ends with a high polish that colorfully displays the hidden beauty of the original stone. They use local goldsmiths to create exclusive pieces of jewelry for their cases as well as personally custom make jewelry. You can come in and choose a piece of opal jewelry from the case, or choose a special stone that speaks to you and have a piece of jewelry designed just for you.

Their Tudor Revival cottage-style station is as unique as the opal jewelry they sell. The building was built in the early 1900s as a gas station and survived the depression however, due to a simple route change caused by a nearby Wisconsin River bridge being out of service, the station went out of business. It has seen several tenants since then (including a weigh station for farm animals) and is now home to their exceptional opals. As a Sauk County Historic Site, it can be an experience to just walk through the door and see the original untouched early 1900’s structure, not to mention the beautiful opal jewels you see inside the cases.

Dennis Dahl, the business owner, has supplied the jewelry industry with beautiful opals for over 40 years, and as a professional opal cutter he is known throughout the country as one of the best in his trade. With this business he now has the opportunity to do what he loves – turn rough opal from the dirt of the Australian outback into colorfully intriguing stones and then into beauty you can wear! You are invited to stop by and marvel at the beauty of opals from start to finish.