Chalcedon was an ancient little town in far Istanbul and has found its generous mention in various manuscripts in history. A version of the town Chalcedon was also found on ancient coins. Having had a strong presence through history, Chalcedon beads have found themselves being used in ornaments for aesthetic as well as functional uses. Influenced heavily by the Romans and the Greeks, these beads were used mainly in Central Asia. It was favored most in its purple or dark red shades often called Carnelia. The Chalcedony however had another interesting use to it. It was used to create seals to stamp important documents. Everyone wondering as to how the ornaments got its European influences, well, guesses are that the Europeans frequented Central Asia for trade purposes and left their indelible mark on the ornaments made there too.
Chalcedony was famous for its use in intaglios and ring bezels. Its unique property of not sticking to the hot wax while the letters are sealed encouraged people to use it. A chalcedony stone would have the seal etched into it in reverse so that when dipped into hot seals and stamped it would leave its mirror image on the surface being stamped. This was a common use in seals of rulers etc during ancient times. Chalcedony was used abundantly by people from the Mediterranean region and Crete. As we have established its importance in history, let us now shed some light on why chalcedony stones still hold their importance among the various precious gems available today.
Chalcedony stones, having being used during the pre-Christian times have a strong Bohemian quality to it. In particular the blue chalcedony stones have had a huge impact on the fashion trends with respect to the informal clothing. It looks great with a grunge bohemian look. Blue, however should not be mistaken to be the only shade of the chalcedony stones that are in demand. The pink ones too are not left far behind as they look very elegant on a woman dressed for a beautiful evening.
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