It's a long way from the paddocks of western Queensland to the palazzos of Florence. Fourth-generation grazier Bruce Tully bridged the gap when he stepped away from his heritage and sold his family farm to follow his seemingly impossible dream of designing and selling Australian opal jewellery to the world. Bruce says he never felt life on the land was for him. As the only son in the family, he toiled away at the sheep and cattle work on his family property, but felt mostly "like a fish out of water''. But he was fascinated by his grandfather's opal mines and amazed that such magnificent stones could be found in such a bleak setting. He had a deep conviction that the opal was being undervalued and undersold in its homeland, fated mostly to end up in cheap settings in a million tacky tourists' souvenirs. Bruce's passion for opals drove him to a desire to design settings Australians could be proud of. When jewellery designers could not come up with ideas he liked, he decided to try some designs of his own. The big breakthrough came when he won a Churchill Fellowship to study with skilled artists in Florence. During his time in the Italian city he was introduced to Elisabetta Gucci, the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Gucci fashion dynasty. Now she has become an enthusiastic and influential supporter of his work.
—Australian Story