- Brand: Casa de plata
- Product Code: CSR-157
- Availability: By Order
Onyx is black and white banded agate (cryptocrystalline or chalcedony
quartz). It should not to be confused with onyx marble, which is
limestone. The banding of onyx is parallel and consistent. Some
varieties of onyx differ in color, such as sard onyx, which has a brown
base and white upper layer, cornelian onyx, which has a red base and
white upper layer, and niccolo onyx, which has a very thin upper layer,
allowing the black base color to show through as grey or blue. Onyx
takes its name from the Greek word "onux", which means fingernail; this
could be due to a Greek legend, in which Eros mischievously cut the
fingernails of Aphrodite with an arrowhead whilst she slept, and the
gods turned the clippings into stone. Onyx was cut and carved as a
gemstone by the Ancient Greeks and Romans in cameos. Intaglio etchings
(negative relief engravings) were also made from onyx. These carvings
showcase the banding of onyx.