Shoto Sterling 20-015 Crocodile

With the centuries-old experience of the Zuni and Navajo Indians, all silver parts are traditionally handcrafted in the southwest of the United States.
The processed silver has a fineness of at least 925/1000 and comes from certified American mines, which are subject to the control of the American environmental authorities.

Deep contrasts are created by oxidation and subsequent polishing.
High-standing parts thus regain a smooth, shiny surface, joints, grooves and recesses remain dark.
Each silver part is processed individually and by hand.  Thus each part becomes individual and unique.

We process exclusively high-quality semi-precious stones in selected qualities, up to "AA" and "AAA" grades.
The processed stones and minerals are sawn, processed and polished in certified companies in Germany, North America, Thailand and India.

For ethical and political reasons we consciously refrain from purchasing semi-precious stones and minerals from China.

In some designs we use prehistoric mammoth ivory beads that are at least 4,500 years old.
We source our mammoth beads from Alaska, where the Inuit dig them out of the ice and process them.

The pearls we process from petrified dinosaur bones in precious stone quality are among the rarest fossils in the world.
They come from dinosaurs who lived on the Colorado Plateau in the southwest of the USA about 150 million years ago.

Our current "highlight" are bands with a central sphere made of "Campo del Cielo" meteorite. This meteorite originates from the asteroid belt and is as old as our solar system (4.2 - 4.3 billion years).
The design, the compilation and the manufacturing of all jewellery parts is done in passionate manual work in Germany.
Problem-free reordering: Shoto Streling manufactures desired styles and sizes within max. one to two weeks, provided that sufficient material is available.  (currently in over 95% of all cases)

Cat's Eye Quartz is a massive, fibrous variety of the mineral quartz with ingrown, parallel arranged crystal needles made of hornblende asbestos.

In its pure form, cat-eye quartz is white, but grey, brown, yellow and green variations were also created by mixing it with minerals.
The Chatoyance effect, also known as the cat's eye effect, which it has in common with the other quartz varieties Falcon's Eye and Tiger's Eye, is created by appropriate polishing.
Cat's eye quartz is found in the USA, Brazil and Sri Lanka.

Source: Wikipedia

The pearls we process from petrified dinosaur bones in precious stone quality are among the rarest fossils in the world. They originate from dinosaurs that lived about 150 million years ago on the Colorado Plateau in the southwest of the USA.
Almost exclusively in this geological formation the prerequisites for such a petrifaction were given. For millions of years silica has penetrated the bone structure and solidified into quartz crystals.

Dissolved minerals and metal traces resulted in the many different colours. Iron caused red, brown and black tones, copper green and blue tones, manganese pink and pastel colours.
Of course, the pearls are made from small finds, no large bones are destroyed.

A unique piece of prehistory.

Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The fineness is therefore 925/1000.

The name refers to the British pound sterling, sterling silver was the coin material of the early English silver pennies, the so-called "sterlings".

The term "Sterling" derives from "e(a)sterling" (coming from the East) and denotes early penny coins imported from mainland Europe to England. Before 1200 the term was also used in France.

Sterling silver is used today for silver jewellery, coins, medals, cups, postage stamps, cutlery, flutes and lacquering of light metal rims. It is harder compared to pure silver. The colour is slightly redder compared to pure silver. Molten pure silver can absorb up to 20 times its own volume of oxygen, which suddenly escapes under a "splattering" noise during solidification and tears open the surface. The copper content reduces the risk of spraying and increases the hardness of the silver.

Source: Wikipedia