There’s a black gemstone that’s popular in jewelry designs. Go ahead, see what’s black in your jewelry box. No doubt you’ll find onyx, the beautiful black beauty of gemstones.
The chalcedony family
Onyx is a member of the chalcedony family of gemstones. Chalcedony comes in a great variety of colors. Whatever the color, chalcedony in any hue is silicon dioxide, SiO2, in a fine-grained, fibrous form of quartz. Chalcedony is such a large family of commonly found rock material that when it comes in particular colors, that color of chalcedony gets its own name. For example, red chalcedony is carnelian. Green chalcedony is chrysoprase. Brownish veined chalcedony is jasper. And when chalcedony is black, it’s onyx.
Black chalcedony
Onyx is actually a special form of black chalcedony. If we’re a bit more accurate about it, true onyx is black chalcedony with bands of white inclusions, particularly when the white bands are parallel. The white banded variety of black quartz, besides being onyx, is also called “zebra agate” and “black agate.” This being said, there’s plenty of black chalcedony without white bands being sold as onyx. It’s all in the name and what you want to call the black stones in your favorite jewelry designs.
Shiny and the new matte
Onyx shows up in jewelry mostly as a polished stone. Whether the stone is in the form of beads, cabochon, or inlay, whether faceted or smooth, regardless of shape, onyx is usually a shiny black. This being said, onyx is showing up lately in matte. An unreflective flat matte finish shows off onyx’s other asset, that being a sturdy black material that can be formed into beads in an infinite number of interesting shapes. Matte finished onyx cubes are an up-to-the-minute jewelry fashion asset. The shape is new and so is the finish.
The other shiny black stone
Take care not to confuse onyx with obsidian. Also a shiny silicon dioxide in black, obsidian is a close cousin to onyx, but manifests in a volcanic glassy form with other stuff in there besides silicon and oxygen. I’ve often confused my onyx with obsidian but am saved by the glazed-over glassy look it imparts, which just isn’t there with onyx. I think of obsidian as the stone that had one too many! Oh, and if you’ve visited Yellowstone National Park, you might have seen a whole mountain of obsidian, formed from erupting volcanoes heating up the silicates to a molten state then cooling to the black glassy forms found there.
It’s about the black
The fact that it’s black accounts for the favor that onyx enjoys in jewelry designs. Black is a neutral color, if it’s a color at all. It “goes” with everything. It’s always complimentary to outfits of any color. And black imparts an element of elegance and formality. So too in jewelry designs. Put in a little black color, design a piece of onyx in a piece of jewelry, and its elegance factor is ratcheted up a notch. Onyx goes well in silver and other base and precious metal settings. Set any onyx in gold and-wah laa-it’s jewelry couture!
While diamonds are a girl’s best friend, onyx is every gal’s pal. What’s in your jewelry box?
Sources: personal experience, Minerals Zone, www.mineralszone.com
