Jeweller - October 2022

News
Australian opal expert and gemstone leader Andrew Cody passed away
Andrew Cody, one of Australia’s leading opal
experts passed on 12 September. He was a
prominent member of the international gem
industry and at various times held the positions of:
president Australian Gem Industry Association.
He was also the founder and chairman Australian
Jewellery and Gemstone Industry Council, special
projects officer of CIBJO (The World Jewellery
Council) and president International Colored
Gemstone Association.
His industry knowledge and work also helped in
the proclamation of opal as Australia’s National
Gemstone, the production of an award-winning
opal stamp series with Australia Post, the design
of the official National Gemstone emblem and
development of the official Opal Nomenclature.
Andrew’s expertise was recognised internationally.
For more than five decades he was a regular
speaker at international forums and was
awarded an Honorary Fellowship of both the
Australian Gemmological Association and the
Gemmological Association of Great Britain.
He also served as a member of Thailand’s JTC-
AIGS Leaders Council.
After studying Valuations at Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology in 1971 – at the age of
20 – Andrew decided to pursue his passion for
gems and established a wholesale opal and gem
cutting business. Cody Opal Australia became very
successful and soon began international exports.
He was later to become joint founder of
The National Opal Collection with offices,
showrooms and museums in both Sydney and
Melbourne. The museums displayed a large
opalised fossil collection which includes a 2.5
metre opalised pliosaur, and the opalised upper
jaw of a rare mesozoic mammal.
The businesses were winners of both Government
Export and Tourism Industry Awards and he was
awarded a Gold Commendation from the Lord
Mayor of Melbourne and was a research associate
of The Australian Museum.
Andrew grew up in the Melbourne suburbs of
Hawthorn East and Ivanhoe. He enjoyed sailing
and sports and at 12 years of age began collecting
fossils, minerals, and gemstones. He began
cutting opal in 1964 after a school excursion to
Coober Pedy.
For the past 20 years, Andrew suffered from a rare
form of blood cancer and passed away peacefully
surrounded by his wife Lynore, and sons James,
Patrick and William. He was born on 21 August
1951 and died at the age of 71.
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