Black Spinel 10mm Natural Round - 15-16 Inch rqtz-spe-str Viking explorers used thin pieces

Viking explorers used thin pieces of Iolite as the world’s first polarizing lens to help them determine the exact location of the sun for navigation

Garnet was used as far back as the Bronze Age

It forms over long periods as mineral-rich water moves through aluminous rock

The design options are absolutely endless with these beautiful beads

white and occasionally gray or brown

Black Spinel 10mm Natural Round - 15-16 Inch rqtz-spe-str Viking explorers used thin piecesSpinel is a hard vitreous magnesium aluminum oxide, and comes in a range of other colors, but those varieties are transparent. Black Spinel not only has the dark color, but it is opaque as well, rendering its black especially deep and mysterious. Sometimes called the "Black Prince's Ruby" for its role in the English crown. It has been mistaken for ruby and sapphire at times, but can be distinguished by its structure and its lower relative hardness.