Description
An obsidian rectangle cut in steps, with the corners cut off, held by four gold prongs on a fine chain. It is the only piece in the catalogue where obsidian is treated as a jeweller’s gemstone.
The emerald cut is a step cut: rectangular facets parallel to the table, arranged in tiers, and four corners cut off. It was developed for emerald, a fragile stone that the points of a brilliant cut used to shatter. The reasoning applies exactly to obsidian, which is a glass: no points, no sharp angles, therefore less risk of a break starting. The shape is beautiful and, above all, it is the right one.
The visual result has nothing to do with a cabochon. A domed surface gives a wide, soft reflection; the tiers of an emerald cut give parallel bands of light that light up and go dark one after another as the stone moves. On a black glass that produces a kind of staircase of reflections no other cut in the catalogue gives. The other pendants are here.
The reservation is the prong setting. Four prongs hold the stone at four points, and on a volcanic glass each point is permanent pressure. Tightened too far, they prepare a crack that will open months later with no impact. I check the tension under a loupe before shipping, and I advise having it checked every two years. It is the only mechanical upkeep this piece asks for.
Crystal lore ties obsidian to grounding. 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 black obsidian, step-cut emerald cut, corners cut off.
- A cut invented for fragile stones: no points, no sharp angles.
- Four-prong gold setting, tension checked under a loupe before shipping.
- Fine gold chain, the only piece in the catalogue set as jewellery.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stone
- Black obsidian, volcanic glass
- Cut
- Emerald cut, in steps
- Dimensions
- About 20 x 13 mm / 3/4 x 1/2 in
- Setting
- Four-prong setting, gold-toned metal
- Chain
- Fine gold-toned chain
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
A gemstone cut on a stone that is not one
On a step cut, the flaw shows in the parallelism and nowhere else. The tiers must be rigorously parallel to the table, and half a degree out on one of them breaks the staircase of reflections: instead of lighting up one after another, two bands light up together and the effect collapses. The check is not done under a loupe but from ten feet away, tilting the stone slowly under a lamp. It is the one flaw a loupe does not show.
This piece is in the catalogue because obsidian is almost always sold as a cabochon, a pebble or a carved shape, never as a gemstone. Treating it as jewellery is not a pretension, it is simply another reading of the same material, and the emerald cut is the one that suits it. The other pendants are here.
Half a degree on one tier, and two bands light up together. The loupe does not show it, ten feet of distance does.
Obsidian does not mind water, but the setting’s gold plating wears with perfume and soap. Take the pendant off before the shower. Never an ultrasonic bath: the vibrations loosen the prongs. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
