Pyrite & Cut Quartz Collar #31

There is something almost architectural about this piece. A collar that sits close to the neck like armour — but armour that catches fire in the light.

At its centre, a raw pyrite cluster — fool's gold in name only. Pyrite is iron sulfide, one of the most dramatically beautiful minerals in existence, sitting so close to metal that it practically is one. It throws light with the particular confidence of something that has nothing to prove. The large faceted quartz beads that form the collar have been in my studio for twenty years — waiting, as the best stones always do, for exactly the right piece to become part of. Strung on steel wire with 925 silver beads and fastened with a repurposed closure, the result is something that feels both ancient and completely of this moment.

Pyrite works with the solar plexus chakra — it is a stone of confidence, willpower and the particular kind of courage that comes from knowing your own strength. Quartz amplifies everything it touches. Together they make a piece for a woman who walks into a room and changes the temperature of it.

A note on care: Pyrite contains iron and should be kept away from water — even prolonged humidity can cause it to oxidise slightly over time. This is simply its nature, and part of what makes it remarkable — nearly a metal, behaving like one.

MATERIALS & DIMENSIONS

• Pyrite cluster
• Vintage faceted cut quartz beads (studio collection, 20 years)
• 925 silver beads
• Repurposed closure, steel wire
• Weight: 124 g / 4.34 oz
• Collar outer circumference: 44.3 cm / 17.28 in
• Collar inner circumference: 34.5 cm / 13.46 in
• Pyrite cluster: 4.8 cm / 1.87 in wide, 2.5 cm / 0.98 in tall

One of a kind. Made once. Yours alone.