Vintage Black Onyx Ring -12mm by 6mm -Sterling Silver -Size: 7.5

Sale Price:   $80.00                 Retail Price: $160.00
 
Black Onyx  (12 mm by 6mm) Marcasite Sterling Silver Ring shines from across the room. This ring also was one of my mother's favorites - the only Black Onyx ring that she owned. Size: 7
Circa: 1970s
 
Marcasite is a type of gemstone that has been used in jewelry for centuries. Marcasite jewelry refers to the gemstone but it also means a type of jewelry – setting tiny pieces of pyrite in designs into silver. Marcasite jewelry has a distinct look and is popular in vintage jewelry pieces.
 
The brittle, brassy colored metallic stone called pyrite, a.k.a Fool’s Gold (more on this confusion between marcasite and pyrite).  Marcasite itself is a granular stone with relatively low hardness (6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale) and a very distinct cleavage. That, together with its brittle nature makes it quite unsuitable for most jewelry purposes.
 
 
The marcasite jewelry of the 1920s is the second most popular style for this jewelry type. The 1920s saw newer marcasite jewelry designs started going far and beyond nature-themed motifs and began to explore shapes, geometric forms and designs.
Large gemstones were used as centerpieces of stylish, angular designs, with marcasite used to accent the design.
 
To this day, nearly a hundred years later, jewelers are still experimenting with new, modern marcasite jewelry designs.