Shungite Bracelet

Shungite is a rare carbon-rich rock - a mineraloid, not a true crystal - composed mostly of carbon, the same element as graphite and diamond, in a non-crystalline form. It comes from one place on Earth: the Shunga region of Karelia, in north-west Russia, which gives it its name.

It reads as a deep black, from matte to a soft semi-metallic lustre in the higher-carbon grades, and it is notably light for its size, as carbon is a light element. Mohs 3.5 to 4, soft, and it can leave a faint mark like graphite if rubbed hard.

Shungite is geologically extraordinary: the carbon is around two billion years old, among the oldest organic-derived material on the planet, and the rock is one of the few natural sources of fullerenes, the cage-like carbon molecules.

Asked often

What is shungite made of?
Almost entirely carbon - the same element as graphite and diamond, in a non-crystalline form. It is a carbon mineraloid, not a crystal, and one of the very few rocks made chiefly of carbon.

Where does it come from?
One region only: Shunga, in Karelia, north-west Russia. That single source gives the stone its name, and there is no other significant deposit on Earth.

Why is it so light?
Carbon is a light element, so a shungite bead weighs noticeably less than a stone of quartz or iron the same size. The lightness is the carbon.

How do I care for it?
Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. It is soft at Mohs 3.5 to 4 and can mark like graphite, so keep it from abrasion and from soaking; keep the cord dry.

1. Worn on either wrist, over the hand, on a durable elastic cord.
2. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth.
3. Soft at Mohs 3.5 to 4 and carbon-rich - keep it from abrasion and from soaking.
4. Keep the cord dry; remove before washing, swimming, and bathing.

Shungite is soft and carbon-rich, kept dry and clear of abrasion. Handled gently, the deep black holds.

Dry cloth. Keep from soaking and abrasion. Remove before water; store dry.

• Material: Shungite · carbon mineraloid
• Composition: Mostly carbon (C) · non-crystalline
• Hardness: Mohs 3.5–4
• Character: Matte to semi-metallic black · notably light
• Treatment: None · natural
• Band: Durable elastic cord
• Origin: Karelia, Russia
• Care: Dry cloth · spare abrasion · keep dry

Shungite has been known in its home region for centuries: a spring near Shunga was long used as a watering place, and the rock has been used there in water filtration, for carbon binds many impurities. Modern science prizes the deposit as a rare natural source of fullerenes, carbon molecules whose discovery won a Nobel Prize.

For its great age and its pure carbon the stone has been read as an ancient, earthen material in the traditions that use it - named here as what people believed. The black is two-billion-year-old carbon; what it steadies is the wearer’s.