Description
A rainbow obsidian disc pierced at its centre. Head-on and under flat light it looks black; tilted toward a direct source, the whole rim opens onto a deep green that turns with the disc.
The iridescence comes from magnetite inclusions arranged in very thin layers in the glass. Light reflects off several layers at once and the waves recombine, exactly as on a soap bubble. It is not a colored coating nor a treatment, and that is why the colour changes with the angle instead of staying fixed. The obsidian varieties go into that mechanism.
The donut is the shape that shows this stone best, and that comes down to its geometry. The magnetite layers are parallel to one another; on a wide disc you cross many of them from edge to edge, and the colored ring goes all the way around the rim. On a small bead you only see a glint of it. The catalogue also sells the same donut in black obsidian, with no iridescence: same shape, another stone. Both are here.
The reservation is the same as for any rainbow obsidian: it disappoints indoors. It needs a direct source and an angle. Under diffuse office lighting this pendant is a black donut, and photographs of this kind of stone are all taken with a light placed on purpose, mine included. It is a daylight stone.
Crystal lore makes rainbow obsidian a stone of harmony, by analogy with its colours. 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 rainbow obsidian, pierced disc, rim with a deep green sheen.
- The wide shape shows the whole colored ring, where a bead gives only a glint of it.
- It needs direct light and an angle: under diffuse lighting the disc looks black.
- Bead engraved with the mantra on the brown cord, adjustable length.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stone
- Rainbow obsidian, volcanic glass with magnetite inclusions
- Shape
- Pierced disc, polished both faces
- Diameter
- About 40 mm / 1 1/2 in
- Setting
- None, cord passed through the central hole
- Cord
- Braided brown cord, adjustable length
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
Orienting a donut so the colored ring goes all the way round
On a rainbow obsidian, the cutting decides everything, and it is settled before the wheel. The magnetite layers are flat, and the disc has to come out parallel to those layers for the colored ring to spread over the whole face. Cut perpendicular, the same block gives a disc where the colour shrinks to a narrow band across it. The reading is done on the edge of the block, under a lamp, before the least cut: one mistake there and the stone is lost for this use.
This donut exists because the black version in the catalogue gave no reason to choose a cut this wide. On an iridescent stone, the width becomes the argument. Both donuts are here and the obsidian guide explains the varieties.
The reading is done on the edge of the block, under a lamp, before the first cut. One mistake there and the stone will serve no more.
Obsidian does not mind water, but a pierced disc breaks in a fall more easily than a solid stone. Store it flat in its pouch. A soft cloth is enough, never an ultrasonic bath. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
