Natural Amazing Blue Peruvian Chrysocolla 28-42mm freeform beads (ETB00617)

Chrysocolla

The king of carbonate copper gemstones, is an alluring, vivid blue-green color and is often mistaken for turquoise because they share many visual similarities. It can often be found intermingled with malachite, turquoise and azurite, creating a wonderful mixed gemstone known as eilat stone. Legend has it that eilat stone was originally mined in King Solomon's mines in Africa. The rich, vibrant blue and green colors of chrysocolla are reminiscent of looking down upon the earth's surface from space.

The name chrysocolla was first used to describe the stone by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and botanist, in 315 B.C. The word was derived from the Greek words chrysos, meaning gold, and kola, meaning glue, referencing the fact that chrysocolla was employed from the earliest times by goldsmiths as an ingredient for solder, called santerna by the Romans, to weld gold pieces together. This fancy gemstone has indeed inspired creativity in many artists, whether they were ancient goldsmiths using it as solder, Renaissance painters grinding it as pigment for paint or modern jewelry designer-artists including it within their florid designs.

Dimensions of beads:

Size:
smallest bead : 28 x 31.5 x 8 mm
the largest bead : 42 x 49 x 8.5 mm

- this is only an approximate, the size varies slightly.

Length: 17 inches

Finishing: Polished