Ebony Jewelry, the Mysterious Charm of Black
The black of wood and the light of gold and precious stones: ebony jewelry presents a series of fascinating contrasts between materials and colors. After all, ebony has been used since ancient times to create precious ornaments.
What is Ebony
“Black as ebony”: this saying immediately explains the main characteristic of this wood, namely its intense black color. The name derives from the Greek ebenos, which in turn comes from the Egyptian term hbnj, which indicated precisely this tree with very dark wood. The ancient Egyptians were indeed among the first to use it to make objects and utensils for common use, eventually creating sculptures and ebony jewelry, considered of great value.
Ebony is a hard and very compact wood obtained from various tree species, all belonging to the Ebenaceae family, widespread especially in tropical areas. The most precious species, with a very dark and uniform black color, is the one from India; however, there are other qualities of ebony with less intense colors, with lighter veining or even green or red shades.
The most sought-after essences are nevertheless the black ones and come from Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia) or Africa (Madagascar). The trees have very slow growth and are becoming increasingly rare: ebony varieties are indeed among the species protected by the Convention signed in 1973 on international trade in endangered species.
From Furniture to Musical Instruments, from Magic Wands to Jewelry
Ebony wood is very precious and has always been used to create valuable objects. Thanks to its characteristics of hardness and resistance, it is indeed suitable for being worked with techniques such as inlay and carving, so much so as to have given its name to “cabinet making,” the art of finishing and decorating furniture and other wooden artifacts. The cabinet maker creates decorative elements such as designs and mosaics, also using other more or less precious materials, such as ivory, brass and hard stones.
Ebony is one of the most widespread woods for making wind musical instruments, such as oboes, flutes and clarinets, but also the black keys of pianos. The tradition of magic indicates this wood as one of the favorites for creating magic wands, that is, the instruments with which magic and spells would be performed.
The magical properties associated with ebony, such as protection from evil and negative forces, are also probably at the origin of the first ebony jewelry, which dates back, as we have said, to the time of the ancient Egyptians. In the tombs of the Pharaohs, decorative objects in ebony were often placed: the Egyptians, as well as the ancient Greeks and Romans, indeed considered ebony a symbol of strength and power.
Precious ebony wood furniture
Ebony, Gold and Precious Stone Jewelry, for a Fascinating and Refined Look
It is precisely the characteristics of ebony that have always made it a material appreciated by jewelry creators: the black color and density, both rare and unusual in a natural material like wood.
The black of ebony is indeed unique in nature, for its intense and deep tone. The density makes it hard and resistant like no other wood and allows particular workmanship to create carvings and inserts, with the typical techniques of cabinet making, but also applied by jewelry making to metals. Furthermore, being so resistant, it can be smoothed and polished, thus giving its very dark tone an unparalleled luster, equal only to that of black precious stones.
Ebony is therefore the ideal material to combine with gold and precious stones, particularly diamonds. The polished black of the wood and the light of the metal and gems indeed allow for creating interesting chromatic contrasts between dark and light tones; another effective contrast is between the natural warmth of ebony and the coldness of gold and diamonds.
The processing possibilities of ebony make it suitable for creating pendants, rings, bracelets, earrings or even decorative elements to insert on other metal jewelry.
Daverio1933 signs the Blackwood collection, which includes ebony jewelry with gold and diamond inserts. The Blackwood creations are available in the showroom of Daverio1933 in Bergamo.
Jewelry from the Blackwood collection