courtesy of AAP and Herald Sun
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EVEN Moscow's new rich might baulk at buying a half-million-dollar dress featuring Australian opals.
But the fashion sensation turned eyes in Red Square today, and has focused the attention of wealthy Muscovites on Australia's biggest ever export drive in Russia.
The opal-studded black velvet gown is the brainchild of South Australian businesswoman Sophia Provatidis, whose family company is one of 31 concerns displaying their wares at Australia Week in the Russian capital.
By a quirk of fate, it was first worn by Australia's Russian-born pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva to help publicise an opal symposium at Coober Pedy in 2001.
Soon after that the Provatidis business, Majestic Opals, sold opals to a few Russians visiting Australia.
So when she learned the Australian Trade Commission, Austrade, was organising a major business expo here, she decided to think outside the (Red) square and get on board.
"Is it fate, or what is it?" she said before a leggy Ukrainian model exhibited her creation in central Moscow.
"The economy here is booming.
"It's a ripe market to be picked.
"If they (Russians) can buy so many Mercedes cars, they can definitely afford a nice $1000 or $2000 stone.
"I had one customer recently who bought three pieces worth $10,000.
"There are 20 million people in Moscow. If I could get just 10 customers like that here, there's $100,000 worth of business straight off."
If she can interest Russians in her gemstones, Australia stands to benefit as the producer of 96 per cent of the world's opals.
"Every person in the opal business is a gambler," she said.
"You gamble every day."
The eye-catching opal dress was certainly a gamble for Provatidis, whose husband John mines and buys the stones and whose gemologist daughter cuts and polishes them.
She convinced around 30 friends in the opal business to donate gems for the dress to help publicise their industry.
The dress, designed by senior students at Adelaide's Douglas Mawson TAFE, normally resides in the South Australian Museum.
This is the first time it has been outside Australia.
Provatidis believes business deals flowing from this week's expo will bear out the opal's description as the "stone of hope".
