Known as tangiwai to the Maori, meaning tear-water, bowenite is a stone most often associated with funereal jewellery in Maori tradition. However, many Maori communities actually prized it even more than nephrite jade for its uses in jewellery. Most commonly possessing green and blue hues, most pieces show a strong translucency. But some, like this piece, show more - a true glass-like transparency. This one possesses an intense dark green transparency to rival the kind of glass used to store olive oil and other light-sensitive substances.
 
Measuring in at 48mm long and 40mm wide at its widest point, this pendant is crafted into a lop-sided heart form that hangs the heart by one of its lobes rather than centrally, as is more common. Its glassy green hue is augmented by hints of the host material to which it was attached at its rear, which create interesting patterns through the surface when viewed from the front. Some of these inclusions are chunks of pyrite or fool's gold, which can be plainly seen from where they breach the pendant's surface at its rear. An extraordinarily complex and very attractive piece equally suited to everyday and formal wear, its odd suspension calls out to the non-traditional side in all of us.