Description
An oval gold sheen obsidian cabochon, closed-bezel set in silver, with shoulders worked into blackened scrolls. The copper veil travels up the dome as the hand moves.
The stone is a gold sheen obsidian, whose copper veil comes from microscopic gas bubbles laid in a single plane by the flow of the lava. On a domed cabochon there is always some part of the curve sitting at the right angle, and the veil travels instead of blinking. On a ring, that means the stone lights up at the slightest movement of the hand. The obsidian varieties go into this family.
The setting is a closed bezel, not prongs, and it is the only sensible choice here. Obsidian is a glass that shatters on impact, and a hand knocks into everything: handles, keyboards, car doors. A closed bezel surrounds the cabochon over its whole circumference and takes the blow in its place. Prongs would leave four points of contact and four exposed edges. The other rings are here.
The catalogue offers the same stone in some fifteen different settings, and it needs saying plainly: the choice comes down to the design, not the quality. This one is the plainest of the worked-shoulder series, two symmetrical scrolls and nothing else. If you want more relief, look at the flower models; if you want less, the fine beaded band. The size guide saves a return.
Crystal lore ties obsidian to grounding, and gold sheen in particular to self-confidence. 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.
- Genuine gold sheen obsidian, oval cabochon in a closed bezel, no glue.
- Sterling silver 925, scrolled shoulders, hollows blackened by hand.
- The closed bezel takes the knocks in the stone’s place: a ring hits everything.
- Fifteen settings for the same stone: the choice comes down to the design.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stone
- Gold sheen obsidian, volcanic glass, oval cabochon
- Metal
- Sterling silver 925, S925 hallmark
- Setting
- Closed bezel, no glue
- Decoration
- Scrolls on the shoulders, blackened hollows
- Sizes
- 52 to 62 (inner circumference in mm)
- Gender
- Women
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
Fifteen settings, a single stone
On a closed bezel the height of the rim decides everything, and it is settled within two tenths of a millimetre. Too low, it does not hold the cabochon and the stone comes out at the first sideways knock. Too high, the metal hides where the dome begins and the stone looks sunken, smaller than it is. The right height is the one where the folded rim bites a tenth of the edge, no more. You check it by looking at the ring from the side, never from above.
This setting is the plainest of the series. It exists because all the others carry a decoration that shows, and some hands do not want one. Two scrolls are enough not to be a bare band. The other rings are here and the obsidian guide explains the stone.
The rim has to bite a tenth of the edge. You see it from the side, never from above.
Obsidian does not mind water, but it shatters on impact and scratches against a hard metal. Take the ring off before DIY and sport. Do not polish the blackened hollows of the scrolls: the black comes away in a few passes. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
