Cinnabar Disc and Onyx Bead Drop Earrings

Lovely black and red drop earrings  made of carved 3/4" cinnabar discs and black onyx beads. Gold-plated spacer beads and fish hook ear wires.  Drop measures approximately 1 3/4". Handcrafted  in NYC.

Fun Facts about Cinnabar:

• It is a mineral substance first used 9,000 to 10,000 years ago.  
• It was used by the Taoist philosophers to create the "Elixir of Life", a supposedly magic potion for longevity
• It was once believed Cinnabar was a transmutant mineral that would become a different metal every 200 years and after 1,000 years would turn to gold
• Cinnabar beads are made of a hand-carved wooden base which is coated  with many layers of cinnabar lacquer