Just as the Native Americans enjoyed the Opal so did the Romans who considered it a precious gemstone. Opal was included among the noble gems and was ranked second only to emerald by the Romans. A beautiful opal called the orphanus was set in the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. It was described “as though pure white snow flashed and sparked with the color of bright ruddy wine, and was overcome by this radiance.” Opals are also set in the crown jewels of France. They were also often used in Native American jewelry for the natural beauty of the gemstone.
Most opal is more than 60 million years old and generally dates back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Most of the precious opal marketed in ancient times was obtained from occurrences in what is now Slovakia.
At first blush, a traveler to the American Southwest might have trouble identifying even a few of the plentiful natural resources in the region. After all, water, the building block of life, is at a premium in the desert. The climate and barren landscape of certain parts of the West can be foreboding if not downright dangerous, but the beauty is there for those who take the time to look.
Rich in minerals, ore and semiprecious stones, the Southwest is a veritable cornucopia of valuable raw materials. This fact was not lost on such tribes as the Hopi, Zuni and Navajo, all of which evolved into flourishing societies with a booming jewelry trade. They found that pairing turquoise with silver created a pleasing aesthetic combination, and that basic formula would serve as the foundation for Native American jewelry sets.
Historical accounts tell us that Indians have been crafting and trading jewelry in the Western Hemisphere for centuries. Those indigenous to the American Southwest gained an especially lofty reputation for designing jewelry, but what made them stand a cut above the rest? For one thing, the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and other local tribes were not nomads; they lived in fully functional villages and had domesticated animals and abundant water sources. These conveniences allowed them time to perfect their jewelry-making techniques.
Raw materials were also prevalent in the Southwest, including the turquoise that would be gathered and fashioned into cosmetic adornments. American Indian turquoise jewelry is still widely touted today as being the pinnacle of that art form. Each individual piece carries with it the proud tradition of the craftsmen who came before.
Jet, also known as “Black Amber”, is typically made from a compact velvet lignite coal that was formed from tree fossils. The chemical composition is mainly carbon with touches of oxygen and hydrogen. It is used as a gemstone due to its ability to be well polished.
Jet was worn by the people of the Victorian era as a gemstone of mourning due to the loss of Prince Albert.
From that time on, Jet has been the primary gemstone for almost all mourning jewelry. Jet can be naturally found in England, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the U.S.
