Banded agate and black onyx with hammered sterling silver chain and clasp. The necklace is approximately 18 inches in length. Can be made shorter upon request.
Agate is a rock consisting primarily of cryptocrystalline silica, chiefly chalcedony, alternating with microgranular quartz. It is characterized by its fineness of buy grain and variety of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of host rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks. In the formation of agate, it is probable that waters containing silica in solution percolated through the rock and deposited in the interior of the vesicles. Variations in the character of the solution or in the conditions of deposition may cause a corresponding variation in the successive layers, so that bands of chalcedony often alternate with layers of crystalline quartz. The stone was given its name by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist, who discovered the stone along the shore line of the river Achates in present-day Sicily, sometime between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Colorful agates and other chalcedonies were obtained over 3,000 years ago from the Achates River, now called Dirillo.
Product code: Banded Agate, Black buy Onyx, and Sterling Silver Necklace Handmade by Chris Hay