South Red Agate Garuda Feather Pendant

South Red is agate, its red running from persimmon to cherry with a darker brick red in between. Red is red, but South Red is not cinnabar and not red coral: cinnabar is a mineral, coral is organic, and South Red is chalcedony, silica crystallized. Once that relationship is clear, the difference in price is easy to follow. The red comes with the stone, and one piece will vary in depth; a piece that is one flat color all the way through is the one to look at twice.

A Garuda with feathers, where the feathers are a shape and not real plumage. The carver lays the plates down one over another, which depends on the thickness of the agate itself: too thin and there is nothing to cut, too thick and it drags at the neck. South Red is brittle, and chipping is ordinary in carving. A chip at a feather tip gets rounded off and becomes a different shape. The plates are separated by incised lines, and whether those lines run smoothly shows at once in side light. Before buying, check that every feather tip closes properly.

South Red fears heat and knocks. Coming in from the cold in winter, do not rinse it in hot water; a sharp change in temperature can craze it, and the cracks sit inside where nothing shows until later. Take it off for housework and for moving boxes. Agate is hard but it is also brittle, and a knock against a tile edge takes a chip out. Northern winters are dry and fine cracks come easily, so a basin of water in the room or wearing the piece against the skin works better than leaving it by a radiator. Strung against metal it will take a matte scuff in time.

Reds need thought in pairing. With white copper or silver the cold white holds the red down and the color reads true; with brass or antiqued copper, warm on warm, everything blurs and you need a dark bead in between to separate them. On pale skin persimmon brightens the complexion; on skin with yellow in it a darker brick red is safer, because a red too bright turns the face gray. South Red looks one way under a lamp and another in daylight, and a spotlight lifts it a full step, so take it to the doorway and look there.

If the hole is drilled through the bird's back the weight sits off center and the pendant keeps wanting to turn over; drilled at the top of the head it hangs straight. That detail does not show on a page, so lift it by the cord when it arrives. South Red does not need oil; oil only dulls it, and a dry cloth is the best care there is. If it goes unworn for a long time, wipe it clean before bagging, because sweat left on the surface works its way into fine cracks over the months.