Cantera Medallion in Sterling Silver & Fire Opal

The Cantera Medallion is a .925 sterling silver pendant set with a Mexican cantera fire opal, made by hand in our workshop in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico.

Cantera opal is fire opal left inside its host rock. Instead of cutting the gem free, the lapidary keeps the rhyolite matrix around it — so what you get is the opal's fire held in the stone it grew in, with the reds and ochres of the rock as its setting. Every one is a different landscape. They come from Querétaro and Jalisco, and there is nothing else like them anywhere.

We surrounded it in repoussé, one of the oldest metalworking techniques there is and one almost nobody in Taxco still practices. The silver is worked by hand from the reverse to raise the design — the sunbursts and stars aren't stamped on, they're pushed out of the metal itself.

One piece, one stone, one pair of hands.

Details

• Material: .925 sterling silver, hand-polished
• Construction: hand-worked repoussé, raised from the reverse
• Stone: natural Mexican cantera fire opal in rhyolite matrix, cut by our lapidary in Mexico
• Dimensions: 4 x 3 cm
• Weight: approx. 14 g
• Bail: integrated sterling silver bail, fits most chains
• Made in: our workshop in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico
• One of a kind — no two cantera stones are alike
• Shipping: worldwide. US orders ship from Houston, Texas

Care

Silver is a living material and will develop a patina over time. Polish it with a silver cloth to bring back the shine, or leave it darker — we like it both ways. Opal is soft and holds water: keep it away from perfume, household cleaners and chlorine, never soak it, and store it dry.

Questions

What is cantera opal? Mexican fire opal that is cut with its host rock still attached, rather than freed from it. The opal's fire sits inside a matrix of rhyolite, so the stone reads as a landscape rather than a gem. It comes mainly from Querétaro and Jalisco, and it's one of the few gemstones the world associates specifically with Mexico.

What is repoussé? A technique in which the design is raised by hammering the silver from the reverse side, so the relief comes out of the metal itself rather than being stamped or cast into it. It's thousands of years old, it's slow, and very few silversmiths in Taxco still work this way.

Is this piece one of a kind? Yes. Every cantera stone is a different pattern, and repoussé is done by hand each time. There is one of this exact piece.

Does it come with a chain? Not yet. The medallion ships on its own, with an integrated sterling silver bail that fits most chains, so you can hang it on one you already love. We're working on our own chain and will offer it soon.