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Snowflake obsidian bracelet with a gold-tone Buddha head
Most people picture obsidian as glossy jet black. Snowflake obsidian is the softer cousin: dark-brown volcanic glass scattered with pale-grey markings. Here it is strung as round 8 mm beads, with a single gold-tone Buddha head. The result reads as a warm, dark obsidian bracelet rather than a hard black one, which makes it far easier to wear with everyday clothes.
Our obsidian bracelet selection
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Which obsidian is this?
Obsidian is not a crystal at all. It is natural volcanic glass, formed when thick lava cools too quickly for crystals to grow. Because it has no crystalline structure, it breaks with the curved, shell-like fracture that made it useful for blades long before it became jewellery. The pale patches on the snowflake variety are cristobalite spherulites, crystals that grew inside the glass as it slowly devitrified. No two bracelets are alike.
| Black obsidian | Even, glassy jet black with no markings |
|---|---|
| Snowflake obsidian | Dark base broken by pale-grey clusters |
| Mahogany obsidian | Brown to reddish zones swirled through the black |
| Rainbow obsidian | Black with a coloured sheen that shifts with the light |
The bracelet on this page is the snowflake type, and its base colour leans brown rather than true black. If you came looking for a flat jet-black obsidian bracelet, this is a different animal.
How 8 mm beads sit on the wrist
Eight millimetres falls in the middle of the usual bead range. A bead that size has enough presence to be seen across a room, yet it still slides under a shirt cuff. On a slim wrist, the beads look generous; on a broader one, they look nicely in proportion. The gold-tone Buddha head lies in line with the beads rather than hanging off them, so there is nothing to catch on knitwear.
Wearing it with the rest of your stack
Brown mottling behaves like a neutral. It works with camel, oatmeal, olive and raw denim, and falls flat next to pastels. Keep the metals consistent: the Buddha head is gold-tone, so a gold watch or a plain gilt bangle finishes the wrist better than a silver one. Stacked with paler stones, it does the grounding work, and the warm bands of our tiger's eye beaded bracelets pick up the same brown tones.
Looking after volcanic glass
Obsidian rates roughly 5 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale, so it scratches more readily than quartz and, being glass, it can chip on impact if it takes a sharp knock. A single knock against a worktop edge can take a chip out of a bead. Take the bracelet off for sport, cleaning and swimming. A soft cloth handles day-to-day dust. If the beads need more, rinse them briefly under lukewarm water and dry them fully. Keep perfume and hairspray away. The other stones we string this way sit in the same shelf of the shop.
Questions we get about the obsidian bracelet
Is snowflake obsidian real obsidian?
Yes. It is the same volcanic glass; the pale flecks are a mineral that formed inside it later. Nothing is added or painted on.
Does it suit a small wrist?
An 8 mm bead is noticeable on a small wrist. Some people like that; some do not. If you prefer bracelets that disappear under a sleeve, choose a finer bead.
What is obsidian meant to do?
Crystal healing tradition links obsidian with grounding and protection. That is a symbolic reading passed down through practice. Choose this bracelet for what it actually is: a dark, speckled glass bead and one warm metal detail.