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Malachite Bracelets
Malachite is a semi-precious stone and also a valuable copper ore, hydrous copper carbonate. It is responsible
for the green color of tarnished copper and bronze. Because of its distinctive bright green color and its presence in the
weathered zone of nearly all copper deposits, malachite serves as a prospecting guide for that metal. Malachite has been used
as an ornamental stone and as a gemstone. Malachite derives its name from Greek word malakos - soft. According
to another theory the word malachite comes from Greek malhe, which means grass. Mining Malachite began as early
as 4000 BC by ancient Egyptians. In the Middle ages, malachite was worn to protect from black magic and sorcery. In Ancient
Greece amulets for children were made of malachite.
In the New Stone Age came the discovery of the possibility of extracting
certain metals from the ores in which they generally occur. Probably the first such material to be used was malachite, then
already in use as a cosmetic and easily reduced to copper in a strong fire. It is impossible to be precise about the time
and place of this discovery, but its consequences were tremendous. Namely it led to the search for other metallic ores, and
to the development of metallurgy.
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There's a lot of malachite chips on this bracelet with shiny green and plain black seed beads. There's also an
aventurine charm hanging from the clasp.
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