Ancient Glass

The treasures in life are often simple and intangible.  These treasures remind us to seize the day -- carpe diem, as the Romans spoke it in Latin.

In the realm of IBISwoman, we would humbly add one simple and yet quite tangible item to the list of life's little treasures -- jewelry made of ancient glass roughly 1,400 years old.

This glass, excavated from northwestern Afghanistan and Tajikistan, once existed as discarded bottles and jars made along an important trading route called The Silk Road between Europe and China.  The glass -- in pieces now with identifiable jar lips and jug handles -- remained buried in the sands of time until local people discovered the cache.  The glass often emerges from its years in heat and cold extremes with a patina of calcification or a bit of rainbow-like glow.  Each shard is roughly shaped and then bored into beads that we can wear and enjoy today.

Here at IBISwoman, we favor rectangular cuts but also enjoy working with coin-shaped pieces that are center-drilled. Regardless of shape, the colors are almost always spectacular -- running mostly from pale blue to pale green -- and flatter any skin and hair. 

Long and short, light and swingy alike, the designs that Briana Zimmerling and I create from this ancient glass remind of us of time's fleeting.

Carpe diem, everybody.