Black Onyx, 6x16mm, Tear Drop Side Drill Shape Beads

This listing is for one 16 inches Strand of 6x16mm Black Onyx beads in Tear Drop Side Drill shape. Each strand of beads is similar to the photo, but is unique due to natural variations.

Onyx comes from Greek and means "fingernail". The story is that one day; frisky Cupid cut the divine
fingernails of his mother Venus with an arrowhead while she was sleeping. He left the clippings scattered on the sand and the fates turned them into stone so that no part of her heavenly body would ever perish. In ancient Greek times, onyx referred to all colors of chalcedony from fingernail white to dark brown and black.

Years later, the Romans narrowed the term onyx to refer to black and dark brown colors of chalcedony. Onyx was highly valued in Rome for seals, because it does not stick to the wax. Onyx stones with even bands of color are used to make cameos.

Onyx is a variety of striped chalcedony that is made up of alternating broad, flat bands of black and white.

Onyx differs from other agate in the fact that the bands of which it is formed are parallel and regularly spaced. If the specimen of onyx is brown and white, it is called Sardonyx. If it’s red and white, then it is called Carnelian Onyx. When the specimen is black throughout the bands, it is called Black Onyx.

Black onyx can be natural or dyed and has been valued by the Greeks and Romans, used in India to ward off the "evil eye" and used as a worry stone in the Middle East. Onyx can be found in Uruguay, Germany, Canada and the U.S. It is said to eliminate apathy, stress, negative thinking, and help with public speaking.