{"product_id":"alashan-agate-bracelet-aaa-semiprecious-alashan-agates-with-silvery-or-golden-stainless-steel-hardware-the-treasures-of-the-gobi-desert","title":"Alashan agate bracelet. AAA semiprecious Alashan agates with silvery or golden stainless steel hardware! The treasures of the Gobi Desert!","description":"\u003cp\u003eNOTICE: These are GENUINE high-quality gemstones! I price my finished pieces fairly because I log every stone I buy in a database and set my prices based on the price I paid for an individual bead (and price I paid for an individual clasp, inch of wire, individual jump ring, and so on). Because I price each component rather than a finished piece of jewelry, my items are almost always less expensive than comparable pieces. In addition to using genuine gemstones, I also use durable components that will outlast every elastic bracelet sold on Etsy. Elastic bracelets will wear out quickly and break, whereas my bracelets will give you years of wear!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI am so excited to present this AAA-quality Alashan\/Alxa agate bracelet, with 100% natural 10mm beads! These are TOP QUALITY stones that I managed to snag at a price that allows me to offer them to you at a phenomenally reasonable price! Alashan agate is relatively rare due its only source being a limited area of the Gobi Desert called the Alxa League, located in a remote area of Mongolia. The Alxa Legue is geologically rich and produces gemstones with rich patterns and colors like these Alashan agates! The swirls, rings, “cracks”, colors and varying degrees of opacity and translucence are 100% NATURAL phenomena, making this beautiful gemstone a must-have for any serious gemstone or jewelry collector!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI offer this bracelet with either silvery or golden stainless steel hardware. Because these agates are valuable I also offer a hand-knotted version which will prevent the stones from scattering should you get your bracelet snagged or cut on something sharp. In addition to being an excellent stone preservation measure, hand knotting also “ups” the elegance factor of this beautiful bracelet! For the same reason pearl necklaces are hand-knotted (due to the value of a single pearl), I prefer to hand-knot bracelets with gemstones such as these! But as always the choice is yours!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“If it’s not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for my customers. If I won’t wear it myself, I don’t sell it in my shop.” -Heather Constable\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhy I Love it: Alashan agate is not readily available because it ONLY occurs in a small region of the Gobi desert, which is the remote Alxa League of Inner Mongolia in China (which is why this semiprecious gemstone is sometimes called “Alxa agate”). The Alxa region is geologically rich and offers up strikingly beautiful gemstones, such as these Alashan agate beads with their defined patterns and earthy colors. These agates come straight from earth’s bosom possessing these patterns and colors, leaving only shaping and polishing to human hands to showcase their stunning beauty!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe seams, “cracks” and colors in these beads are 100% natural and make them extra valuable because patterns and colors like these are HIGHLY sought after (and no worries! This agate ranks at a hearty 7 out of 10 on the Mohs scale for mineral hardness so it won’t crack)! Added to that, it’s labor-intensive to even get to the mines in such a remote location, and once there the laborers mine these gemstones by hand! Envision traveling for miles upon MILES under a scorching sun through a shifting sea of sand, then laboring to dig with a plastic shovel for a stone while sand flows relentlessly back into the hole - all with hot winds whipping sharp grains of silica into your face and eyes and cutting your exposed skin like a thousand tiny razor blades! That’s the “picture” of mining for this semiprecious agate! All these factors make mining these gemstones a costly endeavor, and their relative unavailability drives their price even higher!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd that’s why these bracelets have bigger price tags, but even still I’m offering them at a price lower than you’ll find for a bracelet with beads of equivalent quality, patterns and colors (plus, I make DURABLE bracelets, not elasticized bracelets that easily wear out and break. I never understand why people string valuable gemstones on cheap elastic “string”)! Yes, it’s an opportunity to price-gouge but that’s just not what “drives” me! What DOES drive me is hunting down good buying opportunities so I can share my passion for gemstone beads with others and give you, my customer, fair opportunities to own some truly awesome pieces of jewelry!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHESE, ladies and gentlemen, are just such awesome pieces! If you can “swing” buying one of these beauties…well, I’m not going to tell you that you should buy one (but you should buy one! 😏)!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hand Knotted Jewelry","offers":[{"title":"5.5”","offer_id":53932838813880,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"6”","offer_id":53932838846648,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"6.5”","offer_id":53932838879416,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"7”","offer_id":53932838912184,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"7.5”","offer_id":53932838944952,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Golden stainless steel hardware","offer_id":53933007143096,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Silvery stainless steel hardware","offer_id":53933007175864,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Matching earrings","offer_id":53933008683192,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/1527\/4424\/files\/F70EEB10-4935-4D2B-B2FA-2B72E381B710.jpg?v=1787008418","url":"https:\/\/handknottedjewelry.com\/products\/alashan-agate-bracelet-aaa-semiprecious-alashan-agates-with-silvery-or-golden-stainless-steel-hardware-the-treasures-of-the-gobi-desert","provider":"Hand Knotted Jewelry","version":"1.0","type":"link"}