The jewellers at Kabiri use a variety of stones in their collections, rather than the traditional diamond. Each week, we will focus on a different stone used by some of our up-coming fine jewellers.

Obsidian is volcanic glass, naturally formed by the rapid cooling of viscous lava. The name is derived from the Latin “obsian” after “Obsius”, a Roman who supposedly first discovered it. Obsidian was used mainly by American Indians for weapons, tools, and ornaments and by the ancient Aztecs and Greeks for mirrors. It is thought to be a protective stone, excellent at removing negativity, protects against psychic attacks and from abuse. Obsidian is also thought to benefit the stomach, intestines and eliminate bacterial or viral infections.

Many jewellery designers have encorporated Obsidian arrowheads into their work over the past few decades. US based fine jeweller, Liz Goldwyn, designs around the arrow heads to create necklaces that are breathtaking in their simplicity. Her necklace, currently available exclusively at Kabiri, features an Obsidian arrow head that has been electroformed with 24k gold, that creates an unusual bubble  effect around the stone. The pendant sits on an engraved gold plated silver chain. The necklace has also just been featured in Elle Magazine.

Fine jeweller,  Umane, has moved away from the rough, antique use of Obsidian arrowheads. Instead, this designer uses beautifully carved pebbles of Obsidian which are then pave set with diamonds and other precious stones. This is a really modern and fresh approach to using this stone, and the dark grey colour of the Obsidian creates an unusual base for the green tourmaline in the ring below.