Description
Beads of 8 millimetres alternating two obsidians: the silver sheen one, crossed by a cold grey light, and the black one, which has none. Every other bead lights up, the one between absorbs. It is a strand in two beats.
Silver sheen obsidian owes its light to the same mechanism as the golden kind, with one telling difference: its bubbles are finer and packed closer. Large bubbles send back a warm, coppery light; fine bubbles send back a cold, grey, almost metallic one. Same rock, same volcano, same flow plane, and two opposite colours. The obsidian varieties set out that family.
The alternation is not decorative, it exists so the sheen can be seen. On a strand made entirely of silver sheen the eye adjusts and the veil becomes the background. Slipping black beads between them gives every sheen a clean edge again, and the bracelet reads from a distance instead of looking uniformly grey. It is the same principle as the black leading between two colours in stained glass. The other bracelets are here.
A reservation about light. Silver sheen obsidian needs a direct source to light up: in sunshine or under a lamp it is frank, under an overcast sky or a diffuse ceiling light it stays grey. The golden kind, being warmer, holds up better in flat light. If you work indoors without a window, that is worth weighing.
Crystal lore ties obsidian to grounding and gives the silver sheen kind a role in self-reflection, by analogy with the mirror. 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.
- Two real obsidians alternating, silver sheen and black, round 8 mm beads.
- Hand-strung in France on braided elastic cord, no clasp.
- The silver sheen needs direct light to come out frankly.
- Free restringing for life: send it back and I will rebuild it.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stones
- Silver sheen obsidian and black obsidian, volcanic glass
- Bead diameter
- 8 mm
- Number of beads
- About 22
- Wrist size
- 17 to 19 cm / 6 3/4 to 7 1/2 in, elastic
- Stringing
- Braided elastic cord, no clasp
- Weight
- About 18 g
- Stone origin
- Mexico
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
Why silver sheen is scarcer than golden
Silver sheen is harder to come by than golden, and not because the rock is scarcer: it is a question of sorting at the source. A block with fine bubbles gives a pale grey sheen that goes unnoticed on a badly lit cutter’s bench, whereas a coppery one jumps out. Silver blocks therefore often end up as waste or in ordinary black obsidian lots. You have to ask for them by name and accept longer lead times.
This strand came out of an ordering mistake. I had received a batch of silver sheen too pale to make a whole bracelet, and rather than send it back I tried slipping black between the beads. The alternation solved the very problem it had on its own. The other bracelets are here and the obsidian guide explains the material.
Silver sheen is not rare in the rock. It is rare because it goes unnoticed on a badly lit bench.
Obsidian does not mind water, but it chips on impact and scratches against hard metal. Take the bracelet off before exercising and do not store it with keys. A soft cloth is enough, never an ultrasonic bath. Cleaning an obsidian piece covers the rest.
