The gemstone world is full of recognizable characters: quartz, opal, and onyx, to name a few. A glance at UNICEF’s jewelry collection offers every gemstone imaginable! If you’re looking for a new, unique piece to add to your collection, you may want to consider malachite! This unique, copper-based stone shares traits with turquoise and tourmaline and has been mined for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians held this stone in high regard. Its deep green coloration was associated with fertility, death, the afterlife, and resurrection. In fact, they called the afterlife the “Field of Malachite!” Alok Jain’s “Mirror Mirror on the Wall” hints at this magical reputation. The bands of darker green seem to form a mysterious, moving cloud.
The deep green of the stone can be extremely hard to photograph and often comes across as blueish, but when seen in person, there’s no stone that better reflects the lush colors of nature. For this reason, many artists marry malachite with imagery of leaves and flowers. UNICEF’s most striking example of this lies in Neeru Goel’s “Ivy”. Although the leaves are of sterling silver, the vibrant green of the malachite brings the imagination to life. You can almost smell the leaves!
It seems that no matter how small this stone is cut, it retains its signature dark green bands. Although the stone in “Hypnotic Forest” by Aparna is small, its impact is huge! Paired with intricately designed sterling silver, the stone at the center of this ring catches eyes from across the room. The repetition of the dark green bands of color in the stone and the circular sterling silver accents are perfect for detail without gaudiness.
Another big impact that comes in a small package is malachite’s chip form! These small pieces cooperate to add an extra dimension to your jewelry. Imagine the dark swirls and circles on hundreds of angular pieces of stone! While there’s uniformity in the color…there’s so much variation across each individual piece! “Natural Sophistication” by Narayani definitely has a “wow” factor! One could look…and look….and LOOK and never reach the end of all of the detail!
Although not as commonly used as other gemstones, malachite has a lot to offer! It is versatile and vibrant and has a wonderfully curious history. When you select your malachite piece from UNICEF’s Marketplace, you’re helping to bring lifesaving resources to children all around the world.
