Sunlit moss and deep shadows paint this simple cascading pendant; a rectangle of darkly dappled green variscite pools into luminous jade and plunges into the depths with a deep, dark black tourmaline bead.

Variscite was discovered in 1837 in the Vogtland district in Saxony, Germany, and was named Variscia after the historical name of the area. Variscite is considered to be a fairly rare mineral, and while it is often mistaken for turquoise, it tends towards more rich green colouring thanks to its chromium content, instead of the common turquoise hues created by copper content. Found in a wide variety of greens, light blue-green, purple, orange and very rarely red, some variscite shows white veining while others show black depending on how and where the stone formed. It has been enjoyed as a jewellery gemstone since its discovery, and was believed to ground and soothe the wearer while increasing their capacity for joy!

Green jade is one of history's most loved stones, found in human history as far back as the Neolithic era. Both kinds of jade (jadeite and nephrite) were important and valuable throughout China, southeast Asia, New Zealand, the Balkans, and both coasts of the early Americas. Believed to be a deeply healing stone that promoted emotional balance and increased physical energy, it was worn by royalty, warriors, teachers and healers. Its durable nature represented refinement and precision under pressure (it was carved by ancient societies into sharp, strong tools and breathtaking objets d'art and adornment) and to this day its soothing green represents peace through strength.

Tourmaline has been loved as a gemstone since medieval times, but rose to popularity in the late 1800's. Throughout history, it was often mistaken for other coloured gems like emerald and ruby because of its vast colour range. In the 1700's traders discovered that tourmaline could be electrically charged by friction or heating, creating a positive change at one end of the crystal and a negative at the other, and this property lead to tourmaline crystals being used to pull the spent ash from smoking pipes!
Historically all colours of tourmaline were thought to build a positive outlook and strengthen insight, and black tourmaline specifically was considered a grounding and purifying talisman.

This long drop pendant measures approximately 5 cm long and 1.8 cm at its widest point. The scalloped fine silver frames have a bright polished finish to set off the individual stones. From the top, a rectangular variscite blooms with mossy, emerald greens and delicate black veining. Below floats a luminous jade marquise set horizontally. Both have neatly finished solid backs for strength and to reflect the silver's light through the jade. Finally, a smooth, glossy, jet black tourmaline bead hangs from the jade. The individual pendants hang from arcs of sterling wire and are joined with pairs of sterling silver jump rings, and the tourmaline is held securely on a wire-wrapped sterling silver headpin.

The pendant hangs from a pair of sterling silver jump rings and swings from a 20” (51 cm) long, dainty sterling silver link chain with jade-beaded clasps at approximately 16” (41 cm), 18” (46 cm) and 20” (51 cm) for a custom fit. It is finished with a small sterling silver spring-ring clasp. A longer chain option is available, simply convo me for more details.

All of my jewelry is made by me in my cozy home studio and will be shipped to you as shown, beautifully packaged and ready for giving as a gift for someone special (like yourself!)

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