Description
About twenty silver sheen obsidian beads of 10 millimetres, every one sorted to light up along the same axis. When the hand turns, the grey veil sweeps the strand from end to end like a wave. It is the most demonstrative strand in the range.
The silver veil comes from very fine gas bubbles, laid in a single plane by the flowing lava. Being fine, they send back a cold grey light, where larger bubbles would give the copper of golden obsidian. Same rock, same volcano, two opposite colours according to bubble size. The obsidian varieties set out that family.
This strand does the opposite of the silver and black bracelet in the catalogue. There, every other bead is black to give the sheen an edge; here every bead carries the veil and all are oriented alike, which produces a continuous sweep instead of an alternation. The first reads close up, this one is seen from a distance. Both are here.
Weight and light are the two reservations. Ten millimetres over twenty beads comes to about an ounce, and you feel it all day. And silver sheen needs a direct source: in sunshine or under a lamp it is frank, under a diffuse ceiling light it stays grey. On a strand that is entirely silver sheen, that dependence on light shows more than on a mixed one.
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.
- Real silver sheen obsidian, about twenty round 10 mm beads.
- Every bead is oriented on the same axis: the veil sweeps the strand in one go.
- The sheen needs direct light to come out frankly.
- Hand-strung in France on braided elastic cord, no clasp.
What to know before you wear it
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The specifications
- Stone
- Silver sheen obsidian, volcanic glass
- Bead diameter
- 10 mm
- Number of beads
- About 19
- Wrist size
- 17 to 19 cm / 6 3/4 to 7 1/2 in, elastic
- Stringing
- Braided elastic cord, no clasp
- Weight
- About 30 g / 1 oz
- Stone origin
- Mexico
- Gender
- Unisex
- Brand
- Bijoux Obsidienne
Matching twenty beads on the same axis
Matching a whole strand is work of orientation, not of sorting. Each bead carries its veil in a single plane, fixed by the drilling, and you have to turn it on the thread until that plane lines up with its neighbour’s. You advance one bead at a time, and the twentieth still has to agree with the first once the strand is closed. When it does not fall right, you go back to the middle. A matched strand takes three times as long as one threaded at random.
This model exists for those who find golden obsidian too warm. Copper goes with golden skin and earthy clothes; cold grey goes with steel, denim, black. It is a question of wardrobe before it is a question of stone. The other bracelets are here and the obsidian guide explains the material.
The twentieth bead still has to agree with the first. That is where the strand is won or started again.
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.
