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Hi there. I am selling this really nice natural solid polished gemstone sugilite bead strand or some call it hank.
It is absolutely beautiful! Sugilite is sometimes used as a healing stone.
It is said to strengthen the heart, aid physical healing and reduce stress.
I am trying to raise money, so I am getting rid of some of my most prized and best gemstones and jewelry.
So I am offering it here for sale, and I hope I don't regret it!!!!
The most amazing thing about this Purple Gemstone from South Africa, is that not only is it rare, and harder and harder to come by, but, it is also going up in value like crazy every year!
This stuff is totally and completely HOT right now, and you could buy it now and just hold onto it and sell it in a year and get double, it is crazy how in demand sugilite is!
People are just bonkers about it! The most awesome thing is that Sugilite is 100% TOTALLY and COMPLETELY NATURAL!!! Nothing about the color is enhanced or anything.
I actually just recently bought some rough stones of sugilite, and it is straight out of the earth AMAZING! the colors are just remarkable!
This amazing 16" strand of sugilite beads weighs on average 150 carats, or 30 grams. It measures 16 inches long and the beads measures 9 mm thick at their largest and 4 mm thick at the smallest.
This is a strand of beads or a Hank as it is called. It is not a necklace, instead it is intended to be cut up and made into a necklace. The beads that you will be receiving will be on a 16 inch piece of fishing line. This is intended for a jewelry maker to buy and string up with other beauties and baubles to make a masterpiece.
This is super high grade sugilite , it is totally gorgeous and the highest of grade and quality.
I actually believe that there is a tiny bits of Richterite in some of these beads too, I am not an expert on this, but it looks like that to me.
We ship items out the same day payments are received.
Thanks so much for visiting my listing and have a great day!
Sugilite
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Sugilite tile
Sugilite
Sugilite
Sugilite (also known as luvulite) is a relatively rare pink to purple cyclosilicate mineral with the complex chemical formula KNa2(Fe,Mn,Al)2Li3Si12O30. Sugilite crystallizes in the hexagonal system with prismatic crystals. The crystals are rarely found and the form is usually massive. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6.5 and a specific gravity of 2.75 to 2.80. It is mostly translucent.
Sugilite was first described in 1944 by the Japanese petrologist Ken-ichi Sugi (1901–1948) for an occurrence on Iwagi Islet, Japan, where it is found in an aegirine syenite intrusive stock. It is found in a similar environment at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. In the Wessels mine in northern Cape Province of South Africa, sugilite is mined from a strata-bound manganese deposit. It is also reported from Liguria and Tuscany, Italy; New South Wales, Australia; and Madhya Pradesh, India.
Note: The mineral is commonly pronounced with a soft "g", as in "ginger". However, as with most minerals, its pronunciation is intended to be the same as the person it is named after; in this case, the Japanese name Sugi has a hard "g", as in "geese": /ˈsuːɡɨlaɪt/ SOO-gi-lyet.
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
Fine silver is 99.9% pure and is generally too soft for producing functional objects; therefore, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength while preserving the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating firescale, and increasing resistance to tarnish. These replacement metals include germanium, zinc and platinum, as well as a variety of other additives, including silicon and boron. A number of alloys, such as Argentium sterling silver, have appeared in recent years, formulated to lessen firescale or to inhibit tarnish, and this has sparked heavy competition among the various manufacturers, who are rushing to make claims of having the best formulation. However, no one alloy has emerged to replace copper as the industry standard, and alloy development is a very active area.
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Norman silver pennies changed designs every three years. This two-star design (possible origin of the word "sterling"), issued by William the Conqueror, is from 1077-1080.
One of the earliest attestations of the term is in Old French form esterlin, in a charter of the abbey of Les Préaux, dating to either 1085 or 1104. The English chronicler Orderic Vitalis (1075 – c. 1142) uses the Latin forms libræ sterilensium and libræ sterilensis monetæ. The word in origin refers to the newly introduced Norman silver penny.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the most plausible etymology is derivation from a late Old English steorling (with (or like) a "little star"), as some early Norman pennies were imprinted with a small star. There are a number of obsolete hypotheses. One suggests a connection with starling, because four birds (in fact martlets) were depicted on a penny of Edward I, and another a supposed connection with easterling, a term for natives of the Baltic or the Hanse towns of eastern Germany. This etymology is itself medieval, suggested by Walter de Pinchebek (ca. 1300) with the explanation that the coin was originally made by moneyers from that region.[1]
On the other hand, Philip Grierson, in his essay on Sterling, points out that the stars appeared on Norman pennies only for a single 3-year issue from 1077-80 (the Normans changed coin designs every 3 years), and that the star-theory thus fails on linguistic grounds: extensive research has been done on how coins acquire names, including nicknames. Grierson's proposed alternative involves an analogy with the Byzantine solidus, originally known the solidus aureaus meaning "solid gold" or "reliable gold". Even though English silver pennies had become famous for their consistent weight and purity in the days of Offa, King of Mercia, by the time of the Conquest English coinage had seriously degenerated. One of the first acts of the Normans was to restore the coinage to what it had been in the days of Offa and to maintain it consistently. Grierson thus proposes that "sterling" derives from "ster"[2] meaning "strong" or "stout".[3]
Pair of sterling silver forks
The sterling alloy originated in continental Europe[citation needed] and was being used for commerce as early as the 12th century in the area that is now northern Germany.
In England the composition of sterling silver was subject to official assay at some date before 1158, during the reign of Henry II, but its purity was probably regulated from centuries earlier, in Saxon times. A piece of sterling silver dating from Henry II's reign was used as a standard in the Trial of the Pyx until it was deposited at the Royal Mint in 1843. It bears the royal stamp ENRI. REX("King Henry") but this was added later, in the reign of Henry III. The first legal definition of sterling silver appeared in 1275, when a statute of Edward I specified that 12 ounces of silver for coinage should contain 11 ounces 2¼ pennyweights of silver and 17¾ pennyweights of alloy.[4]
From about 1840 to somewhere around 1940 in the United States and Europe, sterling silver cutlery [US flatware] became de rigueur when setting a proper table. In fact, there was a marked increase in the number of silver companies that emerged during that period.
The height of the silver craze was during the 50-year period from 1870 to 1920. Flatware lines during this period sometimes included up to 100 different types of pieces. In conjunction with this, the dinner went from three courses to sometimes ten or more. There was a soup course, a salad course, a fruit course, a cheese course, an antipasto course, a fish course, the main course and a pastry or dessert course.
Individual eating implements often included forks (dinner fork, place fork, salad fork, pastry fork, shrimp or cocktail fork), spoons (teaspoon, coffee spoon, demitasse spoon, bouillon spoon, gumbo soup spoon, iced tea spoon) and knives (dinner knife, place knife, butter spreader, fruit knife, cheese knife). This was especially true during the Victorian period, when etiquette dictated nothing should be touched with one's fingers.
Serving pieces were often elaborately decorated and pierced and embellished with ivory, and could include any or all of the following: carving knife and fork, salad knife and fork, cold meat fork, punch ladle, soup ladle, gravy ladle, casserole serving spoon, berry spoon, lasagna server, macaroni server, asparagus server, cucumber server, tomato server, olive spoon, cheese scoop, fish knife and fork, pastry server, petit four server, cake knife, bon bon spoon, tiny salt spoon, sugar sifter or caster and crumb remover with brush.
Cutlery sets were often accompanied by tea sets, hot water pots, chocolate pots, trays and salvers, goblets, demitasse cups and saucers, liqueur cups, bouillon cups, egg cups, sterling plates, napkin rings, water and wine pitchers and coasters, candelabra and even elaborate centerpieces.
In fact, the craze with sterling even extended to business (sterling paper clips, mechanical pencils, letter openers, calling card boxes, cigarette cases), to the boudoir (sterling dresser trays, mirrors, hair and suit brushes, pill bottles, manicure sets, shoehorns, perfume bottles, powder bottles, hair clips) and even to children (cups, cutlery, rattles, christening sets).
A number of factors converged to make sterling fall out of favor around the time of World War II. The cost of labor rose (sterling pieces were all still mostly hand made, with only the basics being done by machine). Only the wealthy could afford the large number of servants required for fancy dining with ten courses. And changes in aesthetics resulted in people desiring simpler dinnerware that was easier to clean.
Over the years, some countries developed systems of hallmarking silver. The purpose of hallmark application is many fold:
In addition to the uses of sterling silver mentioned above, there are some little known uses of sterling:
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
Chemically, silver is not very reactive—it does not react with oxygen or water at ordinary temperatures, so does not easily form a silver oxide. However, it is attacked by common components of atmospheric pollution: silver sulfide slowly appears as a black tarnish during exposure to airborne compounds of sulfur (byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels and some industrial processes), and low level ozone reacts to form silver oxide.[5] As the purity of the silver decreases, the problem of corrosion or tarnishing increases because other metals in the alloy, usually copper, may react with oxygen in the air.
The black silver sulfide (Ag2S) is among the most insoluble salts in aqueous solution, a property that is exploited for separating silver ions from other positive ions.
Sodium chloride (NaCl) or common table salt is known to corrode silver-copper alloy, typically seen in silver salt shakers where corrosion appears around the holes in the top.
Several products have been developed for the purpose of polishing silver that serve to remove sulfur from the metal without damaging or warping it. Because harsh polishing and buffing can permanently damage and devalue a piece of antique silver, valuable items are typically hand-polished to preserve the unique patinas of older pieces. Techniques such as wheel polishing, which are typically performed by professional jewelers or silver repair companies, are reserved for extreme tarnish or corrosion.
