Description

Large amber hoop pendant wrapped with brass wire, hung on a necklace of fiery red orange agate carnelian beads with African brass spacers. Two agate beads are wired together with a brass spacer using brass wire, making a very sturdy necklace. Pewter clasp. Amber hoop was shaped and polished by hand and has blue green tones in the sunlight.

Necklace length: 54cm
Agate spheres: 8mm
Amber pendant length: 55mm

The amber is from Chiapas, Mexico and is 100% natural and untreated. Mayan amber untreated can be found in colors much more diverse than the common yellow: Wine, honey, cognac, green (extremely rare) and blue, as well as beautiful translucent shades of aqua and violet. Mexican amber is especially well-known for its deep red, which is extremely uncommon in other amber-rich areas of the world.

Our Mexican amber is mined from the state of Chiapas, in Southern Mexico, where the veins running through the strata are estimated to be some 24-30 million years old. Here, the amber was formed from the resin of an ancient tropical tree (genus Hymenaec), the same genus of tree that produces the prized amber of the Dominican Republic. As a fossilized resin, amber is not a mineral substance like most other gems, and it is this organic quality that makes amber unique.

Formed within the cavities of volcanos, agate is a metamorphic conglomeration of chalcedony and quartz. It is found all over the world in an incredible variety of colors. Used in jewelry in the Indus Valley as early a 3000 BC, agate is durable and resistant to scratching and chipping, and scores a 6.5-7 on the Mohs hardness scale, higher than even famously hard stones such as jade. It is known to be a calming stone, and can be used to clear the mind and sharpen muddled thoughts.

This item ships from Mexico and will take 2 to 3 weeks to arrive.