Cinnabar and Onyx Hoop Earrings

Carved Cinnabar Disc Earrings with Black Onyx Beads and Sterling Hoops. Disc measures approximately 3/4" wide. Earring drop measures approximately 1 1/2". Cinnabar is a mineral substance once used by the Taoist philosophers to create "The Elixir of Life", a magical potion for longevity. It was also believed that cinnabar was capable of transmutation, becoming a different precious mineral every 200 years and ultimately changing into gold after 1000 years. These beads have carved wooden cores that have been coated with many layers of cinnabar lacquer.