Description
A gold-plated Pixiu, set between obsidian beads engraved with the Tibetan mantra and chased ball beads that are gold too. It is the only bracelet in the catalogue where gold wins over stone, and that is on purpose.
The Pixiu is a creature of the Chinese bestiary, a winged lion with a dragon’s body, which feng shui associates with guarding wealth. The convention is to wear it facing outward from the wrist. I report the practice, I do not endorse it: it is a tradition, not a mechanism. On this model it is in plated metal, which allows far more detailed relief than a carving in stone.
The catalogue offers the opposite version, a Pixiu carved from gold sheen obsidian with a simple gold highlight in the hollows. Both schools are valid and do not give the same object: carved stone keeps the black everywhere the chisel has not cut and stays quiet; gold-plated metal shines over its whole surface and shows from ten feet away. This one is the bright one of the two. Both are here.
The reservation is the plating. A few microns of gold over an alloy is what allows this price, and it wears where the hand rubs: the ridge on the Pixiu’s back and the belt of the chased ball beads. Count on one to two years of daily wear before you see grey metal appear on the edges. The obsidian beads, for their part, will be intact in twenty years.
Crystal lore ties obsidian to grounding, and feng shui credits the Pixiu with a guardian’s 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.
- Genuine black obsidian, 10 mm beads engraved with the mantra and highlighted in gold.
- Pixiu and chased ball beads in gold-plated metal, very detailed.
- The plating wears on the edges in one to two years: that is the nature of the process.
- Hand-strung in France on braided elastic cord, no clasp.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stone
- Black obsidian, volcanic glass
- Bead diameter
- 10 mm
- Center piece
- Pixiu in gold-plated metal
- Trim
- Two chased gold-plated ball beads, beads engraved with the mantra
- Wrist size
- 17 to 19 cm / 6 3/4 to 7 1/2 in, elastic
- Stringing
- Braided elastic cord, no clasp
- Stone origin
- Mexico
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
Gold-plated metal against carved stone, two schools
A plated metal piece and a stone bead do not wear at the same rate, and that raises an assembly problem you do not see coming. The metal is softer than the obsidian: with every movement it is the beads that polish the Pixiu, not the other way round. So I always place a smooth bead on either side of the gold piece, never an engraved one, whose engraving edges would plane the plating away twice as fast.
This model exists because a Pixiu carved in stone disappoints those who were expecting gold. A photograph of a highlighted obsidian carving shows mostly black, and the disappointment is real when the parcel is opened. This one leaves no doubt about what it is. Both versions are here and the obsidian guide explains the stone.
It is the beads that polish the metal, never the other way round. Obsidian is harder than gilding.
Obsidian does not mind water, but gold plating wears faster with soap and perfume. Take the bracelet off before the shower, and never rub the Pixiu with an abrasive cloth. A soft dry cloth, never an ultrasonic bath. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
