A pair of fourteen carat yellow gold cufflinks with cabochon green chrysoprase. This beautiful, and unusual stone is a great look on a shirt sleeve, especially if green is your colour. A departure from a more basic onyx or hard stone look, the richness of this stunning and vibrant green contrasting against a crisp white shirt adds a very unique pop of colour to a shirt sleeve. Called the stone of Venus, it is the rarest and most valuable rich apple-green gemstone in the chalcedony family and was often mistaken for emeralds by ancient jewelers. Unlike emeralds, which owe their colour to the presence of chromium, the bright spring green of chrysoprase is a result of trace amounts of nickel. Chrysoprase was used by the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians to make seals, signets, jewelry and other ornamental objects due to this captivating colour. The modern word comes from the literal Greek translation chrusos, meaning golden, and prason, meaning leek, indicating the golden-leek green color of the stone. Alexander III, an ancient Greek king of Macedonia, was one of the most successful, undefeated military commanders in Greek history. A strange story regarding a chrysoprase stone reputed to have been worn by Alexander is related by a Dominican friar named Albertus Magnus. According to Magnus, Alexander always wore a girdle into battle that was embedded with a bright chrysoprase stone. On his return from a successful campaign in India, he laid aside his girdle to bathe in the Euphrates River. While the girdle lay unattended, a serpent came and bit off the stone and dropped it into the water. Alexander III didn't win another campaign after loosing this precious talisman The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 by Howard carter helped fuel the Art Nouveau and following Art Deco design era which celebrated colour, exotic sensuality and romanticism, much of which was led by this Egyptian Revivalism. Chrysoprase and emeralds played a large part in the jewellery that was inspired by the vast treasures of the newly discovered pharaoh's tomb. This gorgeous pair of cufflinks have quite a large size cabochon stone set into each of its four panels. The edges are finely rub set to allow the stones to be the main attraction, and almost allow them to appear that they are sitting freely on the shirt sleeve. The handmade, solid gold open work back allows natural light to pass throughout the stones and help radiate more of the stunning natural colour. Simple gold chain connects each panel allowing them to be pushed through the shirt sleeve. The cufflinks are in excellent condition throughout. Made in America, circa 1930's.
