Semi-Precious

I much prefer opaque semi-precious gems to sparkling jewels: turquoise, onyx, agate, and of course pearls. They seem so much more tactile; a dramatic statement that is more interesting to me than a discreet diamond pendant.

A few years ago I was shopping in Stanley Market in Hong Kong. I had gone there braced for serendipitous purchases, but I was also on a mission to find black onyx beads, 4mm or smaller. Long before I left Melbourne, I’d been looking for these beads online and already knew they were scarcely to be found; I’d exhausted all the beading supply stores I normally shopped at.

I much prefer opaque semi-precious gems to sparkling jewels…

As soon as I had disembarked from the bus, and my friend and I had got our bearings, I made a beeline for the jewellery stores on the outside edge of the market. To my surprise, hanging behind the counter of the first store I saw my 4mm onyx beads! I managed to contain my excitement until the saleswoman could attend me.

“These are very rare,” she informed me.

“I know!” I responded, all in a glow as I slapped down my Hong Kong dollars.

Mission accomplished, my friend and I turned to the main entrance of the market. How I love foreign markets, with their twists and turns and strange side streets! You never know what you may unearth. Some time during that day I discovered on the bottom shelf of a grubby stall a little cardboard box that contained large sticks of coral. I bought three at $4 each.

At home I assembled a necklace in a classic colour combination of black, white and red: precious onyx beads, rice and fused coin pearls, and a stick of coral. I don’t actually wear it often: the pleasure was more in the discovery, the making, and the touching.