#rock crystal

Frosted rock crystal, gold, sapphire, and ruby girl’s head brooch, Van Cleef & Arpels, c. 1960s (at The Back Vault)

…wtf, Van Cleef & Arpels? Like the teddy bear from hell wasn’t enough? Now you give us a sea monster/vampire/Japanese horror movie girl? It doesn’t help that the light hitting the facets of the mouth jewel make them look like fangs. What the hell was going on at VC&A in the ‘60s? (Drugs. It was probably drugs. Please tell me it was drugs because the other answer is that they were summoning eldritch horrors through alchemical offerings and… just no.)

A rock crystal reverse intaglio brooch/pendant, circa 1890

A rock crystal, enamel and gem-set locket pendant, circa 1750
Bonham’s, Jewelry, London, Nov 2nd

vysjewelry:

Carved coral, nephrite, hardstone, diamond, and gilt wild strawberries in a rock crystal vase on a jasper plinth (at Christie’s)

heaveninawildflower:

Byzantine necklace (6th-7th century). Gold, amethyst, (coloured glass or rock crystal and emerald) beads.

Image and text courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A rock crystal ball talisman mounted as a pendant in silver and decorated with stylised roses at each end. The sling mount is early seventeenth century and is decorated with punching in the form lozenges and pellets. Abrasions to the ball suggest that it might be considerably earlier then the silver work. It is contained within a fitted wooden case lined with velvet and covered in shagreen. English?, c.1620. Photographs: Author.

Source:https://innerlives.org/2018/03/19/the-sphere-of-magical-thinking-the-enchanting-history-of-crystal-balls/

Gift from an angel …John Dee’s crystal, Europe, 1582.

So the story goes…
In 1582 John Dee (1527–1609), mathematician, astrologer, magician, and antiquary, claimed that he had been given a magic crystal by an angel called Uriel. Eventually this slightly purple rock crystal, secured in a crude silver mount, passed to Dee’s son Arthur (1597-1651), who in turn gave it to Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654). A physician and alchemist, Culpepper used it as a cure until 1651, when a fiendish spirit burst out of the stone and nearly frightened him to death. The same rock crystal is now in the Science Museum but, according to the curatorial staff, the demon seems to have moved on forever.

Text source: https://innerlives.org/2018/03/19/the-sphere-of-magical-thinking-the-enchanting-history-of-crystal-balls/

Image:https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co104490/john-dees-crystal-europe-1582-amulet

Archangel Uriel: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uriel