Autumn Glory – Reward – Central Queensland Highlands

Wally Shadforth and his wife took up fossicking when they found themselves stranded on the Sapphire Gemfields after their car broke down in 1992. Already down on their luck, they stayed in a local caravan park and dug in the Washpool area for six weeks without a find. It seemed all hope was lost, when they spotted a desert gecko and named him Matey.

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In despair, Wally’s wife said, “Give us a sign, Matey,” and reportedly the gecko waved a paw. They dug in that spot and unearthed an extraordinary 103.5-carat orange sapphire.

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Wally turned down several bids for the stone, believing he would eventually find a buyer willing to pay his asking price.
He decided to put the stone into the hands of a Noosa company, Gemstone Services Australia, which allegedly had an American buyer for it.
However, the Autumn Glory disappeared on its way to the United States and has still not been recovered. The mystery remains unsolved.

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Wally wasted no time having the stone cut by a local gem cutter, the result of which was a magnificent yellow-orange oval sapphire weighing 30.25 carats, named the Autumn Glory. It was conservatively valued at $300,000.

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