Description
A long necklace where three stones follow one another in a regular sequence: black obsidian, brown tiger’s eye and grey haematite. Twenty-four inches, enough to pass over the head with no clasp.
The three stones come from three distinct mineral families, and that is what gives three different blacks and three different lights. Obsidian is a volcanic glass, deep and liquid. Haematite is a polished iron oxide, grey and metallic. Tiger’s eye is a quartz with fossilized fibres, carrying a moving band of light. None of them looks like the other two under a lamp. Pairing obsidian with other stones goes into these mixes.
The sequence is regular and not random, and that shows more than you would think. A random mix makes clumps of colour and gaps; a repeated sequence gives a rhythm the eye follows along the whole length of the strand. On a short necklace the difference is slight, over twenty-four inches it is decisive. The other necklaces are here.
The reservation is weight and the absence of a clasp. Twenty-four inches of eight-millimetre beads, a third of them haematite which weighs twice what the other two do, comes to nearly three and a half ounces around the neck. It is a necklace you feel, above all on a thin shirt where it slides. And with no clasp it cannot be shortened: the length is fixed, you have to want it.
Crystal lore calls this trio the triple protection and gives each stone a distinct role. None of that is proven, and no piece of jewellery heals anything. I have gathered separately what tradition attributes to obsidian, in the conditional from start to finish.
- Three real stones in a regular sequence: obsidian, tiger’s eye, haematite.
- Twenty-four inches, no clasp: it passes over the head.
- Nearly three and a half ounces: a necklace you feel, and whose length is fixed.
- Hand-strung in France on coated steel cable.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stones
- Black obsidian, natural brown tiger’s eye, haematite
- Bead diameter
- 8 mm
- Length
- About 60 cm / 24 in, fixed
- Stringing
- Coated steel cable, no clasp
- Weight
- About 95 g / 3.4 oz
- Stone origins
- Mexico, South Africa, Brazil
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
A long necklace has no clasp, and that is a calculation
A necklace with no clasp is calculated the other way round from a closed one. The length is not chosen for the look but for head circumference: it has to go over, and an adult head measures between twenty-one and twenty-four inches. Below twenty-three, a necklace closed in a loop jams at the ears, and the buyer thinks they have received a faulty piece. Twenty-four inches is the honest minimum, and that is why this necklace is long without having been designed long.
This necklace exists because clasps are the first point of failure on a stone piece. A lobster clasp tires, a magnet is torn open, a sliding knot works loose. No clasp, no failure: all that is left is the thread, and the thread is a steel cable. The other necklaces are here.
Twenty-four inches is not a look, it is the minimum to pass over the head without jamming at the ears.
Obsidian and tiger’s eye do not mind water, but haematite spots with rust if it stays damp for several days. Take the necklace off before the shower. A soft dry cloth, never an ultrasonic bath. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
