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Six Genuine, Natural, Richly Textured Snowflake Obsidian Semi-Precious Gemstones on Sterling Silver French Hooks.

Six antique spherical hand crafted snowflake obsidian semi-precious gemstones. Two 6mm gemstones, two 5mm gemstones, two 4mm gemstones, all mounted onto high quality sterling silver french hooks. Total gemstone weight about 6 carats.

Six richly textured gorgeously colored snowflake obsidian semi-precious gemstones from Yemen, the land of the Biblical Queen of Sheba, one of the traditional sources of Neolithic Levant and European obsidian predating recorded history. If you look closely at these gemstones, you can see how they have quite aptly gained their name. Within the black obsidian are found what appear to be delicately detailed white snowflakes - each of course quite unique. The gemstones were handcrafted in the 1950's in Bombay, India into beautiful little spheres and then hand drilled. These antique gemstones have been mounted onto high quality contemporary sterling silver french hooks - not merely cheap silver-plated nickel. It's a first-class piece of jewelry throughout. Though the gemstones are antique, hand crafted and hand matched, the settings are contemporary. They could also be remounted onto kidney wires, lever backs, euroclicks, or ball studs if you would prefer; or remounted onto 14kt solid gold.

Obsidian is black glass created by volcanic heat, similar to the way in which a diamond is formed, but it cooled too fast to form crystals. Obsidian has been prized by peoples of the ancient Near East for making tools and objects art and personal adornment since before the beginnings of settled communities. Archaeologists have identified obsidian quarries on the Greek island of Melos over 35,000 years old. Widely distributed, but in a relatively limited number of localities, each with a unique chemical signature, obsidian has proven to be an ideal material for archaeological studies of early trade in the ancient Near East (Levant) and Mediterranean. It was regarded as magical in ancient times, used as an amulet, to cure illness, to foresee the future, and polished into a mirror used as a scrying tool, an accurate reflection of personality changes that need to be made. Obsidian is usually black, sometimes red or brown, and in the rarest occasions mahogany, rainbow, gold, silver, green, and this particular black variety with white inclusions known as "snowflake" obsidian. It is these deviations in color that give obsidian a gem-like quality. Even jet black obsidian is highly prized as a gem when it is carved and polished.

You might guess I travel extensively for a living. My profession is a purchasing agent for antique gemstones, which generally come from Russia, India, Ceylon, and Siam. I grew up in the Southern Urals of Russia, just miles away from some of the greatest gemstone producing regions in the world's history. Alexandrite, diamond, emerald, sapphire, chrysoberyl, topaz, demantoid garnet, and many other rare and precious gemstones are produced from the mountains within mere minutes or a few hours from the city I once called home. My interest in the fabulous history of Russian gemstones and the fabulous jewelry of the Czar's led to further education and conacts in India, Ceylon, and Siam, other ancient centers of gemstone production and finishing. Though perhaps difficult to find in the USA, antique gemstones are commonly unmounted from old, broken settings - the gold reused - the gemstones recut and reset.

Before this happens, before these gorgeous antique gemstones are recut, I try to acquire the best of them in their original, antique, hand-finished state - most of them centuries old. I believe that the work created by these long-gone master artisans is worth protecting and preserving rather than destroying this heritage of antique gemstones by recutting the original work out of existence. That by preserving their work, in a sense, we are preserving their lives and the legacy they left for modern times. Far better to appreciate their craft than to destroy it with modern cutting. Not everyone agrees - fully 95% or more of the antique gemstones which come into these marketplaces are recut, and the heritage of the past lost. But if you agree with me that the past is worth protecting, and that past lives and the produce of those lives still matters today, consider buying an antique, hand cut, natural gemstone rather than one of the mass-produced machine cut (often synthetic or "lab produced") gemstones which dominate the market today.

I have always been fascinated with jewelry and gemstones. Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Bombay are great places to find incredible deals on both gemstones and jewelry, and over the years I have made many friends within the trade in these five cities. So you can look for a steady flow of little treasures I discover in my travels, and I will be happy to share with you the best deals I can find through my industry acquaintances in these far-off Asian lands. Though I spend a good part of each year in Europe and Asia, most of the year I am here in the United States, and that's where all of my little treasures are. So you can count on quick shipping and careful packaging. And if I am not home - I have someone who does it for me!

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