BC 1351 Geneva Apacheto Cluster earrings

Navajo cluster earrings by artist Geneva Apacheto. Measuring 1"3/4 in length with a width of 3/4". Light weight and easy to wear, each earring has 7 black onyx stones in its design. Beautiful earrings! Onyx is a chalcedony quartz that is mined in Brazil, India, California, and Uruguay. It has a fine texture and black color; however, some onyx also displays white bands or ribbons against a black or brown background and this variety is known as sardonyx. The name comes from the Greek word onyx. Oxidized silver (black coloring in the silver) is a process that many jewelers use to give sterling silver a black patina. It gives the jewelry an antique or tarnished look. The process consists of taking clean sterling silver and using a chemical (liver of Sulphur) to treat it to speed up the tarnishing effect. Sterling silver Is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper The sterling silver has a minimum fineness of. 925