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Choose from a variety of sleek black stones By Bethany Waldrop Keiper "I've been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colors was black." -- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
October is known for Halloween, a time for dark shadows, dark superstitions, and dark colors – especially black. If you look at black from a physics standpoint, technically, black is not a color, since a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them back to the eyes. But black is considered a color when it exists as a pigment or coloring agent. But as far as I'm concerned, black always exists as a color, and a very nice one at that. Especially for jewelry and gemstones. When I was reading about black stones, I learned something new. There is a very specific, very famous black stone. The Black Stone is a Muslim object of reverence, with its origin in the days of Adam and Eve, according to Islamic tradition. The stone is the eastern cornerstone of the ancient sacred stone building in Mecca. This building is called the Kaaba, and is the location toward which Muslims pray. On my more local level, blackstone beads and carvings are items I have seen for sale for years, without knowing their little secret. It seems that blackstone is most often black jasper. It has a satiny finish, and adds a subtle shine to jewelry designs. Black jasper is believed to help bring an advantage to the wearer in a fight, whether the confrontation is mental, legal, or physical. But blackstone can also be made of any easily available stone that can be shaped, polished, and permanently dyed black, so be sure to ask about the properties of available blackstone before you buy. From a stone that can have a questionable identity, we move on to one that is not really a gemstone at all. Jet is an organic gemstone, which means it isn't technically a gemstone -- it comes from long ago plant life (organic gems can come from animals, too). It is sometimes called black amber, which it isn't at all. It is actually fossilized coal, called lignite. Jet has been found made into beads and ornaments as far back as the Bronze Age. During the Victorian Era, jet was a favorite for mourning jewelry, due mostly to Queen Victoria's long period of mourning after her husband died in 1861. It seems fitting for jet to be worn for this purpose, since one of its purported properties is to bring grief to the surface and to help lessen its pain. It is also believed to protect the wearer from depression, to increase sympathy for others, and to cancel out negative energy. In addition to being organic, jet is also amorphous, which means it doesn't have a distinct crystalline structure. This next black gemstone most definitely has a crystalline structure -- the black diamond. A black diamond's structure isn't the same as a white or clear-colored diamond; its structure is polycrystalline, which translates into the idea of many diamonds pushed together into one. Because of the structure, the diamond absorbs light, and is naturally black. Just like their more sparkling counterparts, these diamonds are pure carbon, and may reflect that quality more than any other color. The special name they are given even reflects their makeup -- "Carbonado." One of the largest black diamonds is the Gruosi Diamond. It is a 115.34-carat, heart-shaped black diamond -- the largest of this shape and color in the world. It was originally intended to be an oval, but during the three years it took to cut this diamond, the stone lent itself better to the shape of a heart. Even though the structure of this gem is no mystery, its exact origin is. Carbonado is found in alluvial deposits in the Central African Republic and Brazil. Theories of its formation differ amongst geologists, but one team of United States geologists have evidence that these dark gems may have formed in interstellar space. Trace elements of nitrogen and hydrogen in the diamonds are seen as sure indicators that the stones have an extraterrestrial origin, and were formed before our solar system. The black diamonds are believed to have come to Earth as meteorites. Our next black stone may not be quite as expensive, but it also has an odd story of how it came to be on Earth. Black onyx, with its smooth, almost mirror-like surface, is the mystical birthstone for the month of December, and the stone for the Zodiac sign Leo. As for its presence on this planet, the story comes from the origin of the word onyx, which in Greek means fingernail or claw. The legend is that Cupid cut Venus' fingernails one day as she slept. The cut nails fell to the ground, and were turned into onyx stone by the gods, since no part of a heavenly body can die. I'm not a big fan of this legend, because it sounds like Venus had some incredibly dirty fingernails. Or perhaps she was just wearing black nail polish. A great deal of the black onyx sold commercially has been color enhanced. It is very popular for pendants and carvings for jewelry. Onyx itself is said to enhance its wearer's ability to let go of unhealthy past relationships or beliefs. It also is believed that just as black can hide things in its absence of light, this black stone can help to create invisibility. Many of the black stones relate to the Root Chakra, which is located at the base of the spine. This chakra is important for staying grounded, holding on to our self-preservation, and maintaining a sense of security. Black gems and stones of this chakra include black tourmaline, obsidian, black sapphire, black kyanite, and black onyx. |
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