They deemed it high value because of its beauty and abundance in the area. The Mayans were notably famous for using obsidian glass. History shows us that ancient civilizations used it as well as modern civilizations. Like onyx, people have been working with obsidian for years. Obsidian is made when felsic lava erupts.īecause it comes from molten lava, they still call it obsidian stone. Instead, it’s the most common form of natural glass. You can find an onyx stone in places like Brazil, Canada, Uruguay, and Madagascar.Ī lot of people think obsidian is a smooth, black rock. Today, onyx still means something dark and mournful, with some mysticism thrown in. Most of the use of black onyx in jewelry had been for cameos and brooches.
This symbolism occurred after Queen Victoria donned a piece of onyx jewelry to represent her sadness about Prince Albert’s passing.
It was used mostly for jewelry worn at funerals or in times of mourning. Its debut headed off the start of the Victorian era in 1861. Greek mythology tells us that while Venus was sleeping, Cupid clipped her fingernails and the clippings were onyx.Īrtisans and early cultures have been using onyx in jewelry for thousands of years. The name “onyx” is derived from the Greek word for “claw”. But scientists have settled against this. There's some argument over if onyx is an agate, another layered chalcedony. This type of quartz has very fine mineral crystals. However, it's the same variety you might be familiar with, like rose quartz or smoky quartz. Chalcedony is a type of microcrystalline quartz.
Onyx gemstones come from the rock family of chalcedony (KAL-SID-NEE).
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