Onyx   The vase is made of banded onyx.

Onyx is formed from dissolved carbonate minerals (usually calcite) when limestone or dolomite sediments come into contact with hot water. Heat from recent volcanic activity causes this hydrothermal alteration and the dissolved minerals are then precipitated when these fluids reach the surface. Precipitated carbonates from these hydrothermal solutions are called "flowstone" or travertine, as well as onyx. Red, green and orange colors result from trace amounts of impurities.

This beautiful stone is from the Balochistan Province in western Pakistan. Skilled artisans in Karachi, Pakistan, turn solid stone blocks on lathes to create beautiful bowls, vases and plates.

Onyx is soft with a hardness of 3.  So, can you use these items? Vases are fine for flowers. It is safe to drink wine out of our goblets, but you will see the inside of the goblet dull.  The beautiful polished surface of  bowls, plates and trays will stay shiny if used to serve dry items like crackers or popcorn.  Acid in food like salads, vegetables and soups will dull the surfaces they come in contact with. Also metal utensils will scratch the surface.  We recommend cleaning with a damp cloth. No microwave ovens or dishwashers, please.

Spiral Shell  The wine goblets in the gift box are spiral shell. The 2 standing pairs are white onyx and banded onyx.

Spiral shell limestone filled with gastropods was formed during the Tertiary period between 15 and 40 million years ago. Limestones are sedimentary rocks that formed at the bottoms of lakes and seas, as silt and organic matter settled to the bottom.  As more and more layers build up over time, adding more and more weight, heat and pressure cause reactions to take place that lithify the sediments into solid stone. What appear as holes or grains in the shell or the gastropod are trace fossils of the Entobia ichnofacies created by clinoid sponge borings.

The stone comes from the Sindh province of eastern Pakistan and is cut and polished by skilled craftsman using lathes in Karachi, Pakistan.

So, can you use these items? It is safe to drink wine out of our goblets, but you will see the inside of the goblet dull.  The beautiful polished surface of  bowls, plates and trays will stay shiny if used to serve dry items like crackers or popcorn.  Acid in food like salads, vegetables and soups will dull the surfaces they come in contact with. Also metal utensils will scratch the surface.  We recommend cleaning with a damp cloth. No microwave ovens or dishwashers, please.

Ammonite Photo shows an ammonite and labradorite from Madacascar.

Ammonite is Alligaticeras, an extinct fossil cephalopod from the family Perisphinctidae, lived in shallow seas which covered what is now Madagascar during the mid-Jurassic, approximately 180,000,000 years ago. The chamber has been cut and carefully polished to show septa that separate former living chambers, which are now filled with calcite.

Labradorite is a plagioclase feldspar from Madagascar.