Cavansite Pendant, Sterling Silver, Granulation, Deep Blue Teal, Statement Necklace, One of a Kind Handmade

Most people have never encountered cavansite outside a mineral collection, which makes wearing it a minor act of introduction. The color is the reason collectors seek it out: a deep, vivid blue-green that shifts between peacock and teal, natural and entirely unrepeatable. It forms via low-temperature hydrothermal processes inside the gas pockets and cracks of volcanic rocks. Because it forms late in the process, it’s almost always found deposited on top of a matrix backdrop of lighter-colored zeolites, often shown as blooms or rosettes, in the underlying structure. 

A low-quality deposit of cavansite was discovered in Oregon in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until it was rediscovered in Pune, India in the 1970s that it became known as a desirable stone. It’s more recently been found in New Zealand, but Pune still yields the best quality and color, coming out of the remote rich landscape of the Deccan Traps. This rare mineral is only intermittently brought to the gem market, and it’s rarely cut into suitable cabochons for jewelry.

I’ve only encountered four cavansite gems in my jewelry career, and this is both the largest and the one I’ve had the longest. I purchased it before I even knew how to set stones, entranced by its color and story. After holding on to it for many years, I’ve decided to release it as I’m work through my gem collection. 

The surface of this particular gem is peppered with small fissures that reflect its volcanic history but don’t affect its structural soundness. It also shows several of the lighter matrix “blooms” below the surface, and some of the fissures end in tiny crystal pockets that give this stone a fine twinkling, stars-in-the-sky effect. 

Spheres in various sizes arc across the top of the setting. Each sphere is individually placed so the grouping gives a "frilled" effect which ornaments the stone, rather than overpowering it. This gives the pendant a silhouette that feels both structured and organic., while the clean bezel below lets the cavansite be the center of the design. 

Hallmarked .925 and Blue Piranha.

Size: 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) long from top of bail to bottom of pendant, and 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) wide. Weight is 6.5 grams.

The pendant arrives gift boxed in a soft pouch with a story card.

Each pendant is available without a chain. If you'd like to add one, I offer several lengths and styles, please choose from the options at checkout. Every chain comes with a 2-inch extender so you can vary the length.

Good for:  the collector who would rather have one remarkable thing than a drawer full of safe ones. The person who wants a pendant with a geology lesson built in. Self-purchase for the woman who knows that spare and remarkable aren't opposites.

Questions? Please message me. I'm happy to help.

About Cavansite

Cavansite is a rare calcium vanadium silicate mineral found almost exclusively in the Pune region of Maharashtra, India. It forms in basaltic rock and is prized for its intense blue-green color, which ranges from deep peacock blue to vivid teal depending on the specific chemistry of the deposit. The name comes from its elemental composition: calcium, vanadium, and silicon. Because cavansite forms in relatively small quantities in a limited geographic range, gem-quality cabochons are uncommon. The color is entirely natural, a product of vanadium content, and it has no close visual equivalent in the gem world. Collectors who know it tend to seek it out specifically.