A collar is a commitment. It doesn't drape, it sits — which means bare shoulders, a strapless neckline, or a shirt open wide enough that nothing interrupts its line. Put nothing else at the neck. This is the piece, and it does not share.

Wear it with hair up or back. A collar's whole argument is the neck it draws around, and hair down hides the shape entirely. The mixed metal is deliberate, not an accident: a warm gold collar with a cool silver bezel, which means it works with whatever metal you already wear. Most statement necklaces force you to pick a side. This one doesn't.

Labradorite is grey until it isn't. Turn under a light and a sheet of blue rolls across the face and vanishes — peacock at the center, green at the edge, deeper from some angles than others. The effect is called labradorescence, and it comes from light bouncing between microscopic layers inside the feldspar, not from any pigment. Every stone throws it differently. Yours will not flash exactly like the photograph.

MAKE · FORM · WEAR

MAKE — Natural labradorite cabochon in a hand-set sterling silver bezel and bail, on a 14K gold-filled collar. No plating.
FORM — Oval cabochon on a rigid collar. Mixed metal by design, gold against silver.
WEAR — Rigid collar, 132.4mm inner diameter — roughly a 17" fit. 4.2mm thick. Hook closure; it opens at the back of the neck and slips on. Store it flat, and don't force the shape open and closed more than you need to.

The collar is consistently made. The stone is not — no two labradorites carry the flash the same way.

DETAILS

• Natural labradorite. No dye, no coating.
• Sterling silver bezel and bail
• 14K gold-filled collar
• Collar: 132.4mm inner diameter (approx. 17" fit) · 4.2mm thick · hook closure
• Remove before swimming or showering. Wipe dry; polish the silver with a soft cloth.

THE FINISH

Gold-filled is not gold plating, and the difference is the reason this piece costs what it does. Plating is a microns-thin layer that wears off in a season. Gold-filled bonds a layer of solid 14K to the core under heat and pressure, at a minimum of 1/20th of the total weight — roughly a hundred times the gold of a plated piece. It does not flake, and with ordinary wear it lasts years rather than months.

IN THE TRADE

Labradorite is assigned in crystal practice to the third eye and throat, called the stone of transformation and carried as a shaman's stone. We report the tradition; we don't claim it.

The stone takes its name from Labrador, where Moravian missionaries recorded it in 1770. An Inuit telling holds that the lights of the north were once caught inside the rocks along that coast, until a warrior struck them with his spear and freed most of them — and that what still moves inside the stone is the part that never got out.

IN THE BOX

• Cotton tote
• Hand-stamped story card
• Catalog card

SAÉA — shelter · refugio · پناه
Made by earth. Shaped by hand. Kept by you.

SAÉA Stones

Onyx is a natural stone, stunning but not bulletproof. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. Avoid harsh detergents. Read more here.

Each piece is sealed with food-grade beeswax. Refresh every 6 to 12 months by warming a small amount of oil or wax into the surface, then buffing gently with a soft cloth.

Free ground shipping on U.S. orders over $100. Hand-packed in San Diego using recyclable, plastic-free materials, usually shipped within 1-2 business days.

30-day returns on unused, undamaged pieces. Email us at hello@saeadesigns.com and we will send a return label.

SAÉA is a small design studio in San Diego, California.

Each piece begins as raw onyx in the mountains of Balochistan, hand-carved by artisans, then finished, photographed, and shipped from San DIego, California.

Every SAÉA Jewel is made to order in our San Diego studio.