Our Product Story
Often referred to as Australian jade for its marvelous green color, chrysoprase is actually apple green chalcedony. It is the nickel component in the stone that creates the green color, which can fade in strong sunlight. Chrysoprase is found mostly in Australia, but also in Austraila, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Russia and California. Sometimes thought to confer spiritual protection, chrysoprase is an alternate birthstone for May (Gemini).
Gold has long been considered one of the most precious metals in the world. For thousands of years it has been used as the ornament of kings and as a standard for global currencies.
Gold was probably first found on the ground and used by prehistoric man as a tool. The first known use of gold was in parts of central and eastern Europe, in 4000BC. Highly sophisticated gold art objects and jewelry dating back to around 3000BC have been discovered by archaeologists in the Sumerian Royal Tombs at Ur, in what is now southern Iraq. The Egyptians used gold to adorn their kings in life and death and, by 1500BC, gold had become a standard medium of international trade. Similarly, goldsmiths of the Chavin civilization in Peru were making ornaments by hammering and embossing gold by 1200BC.
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