Rhyolite is also known as rainforest jasper, and I'm sure you can see why. These stones are so interesting that I wanted to keep the design simple, so that the beads themselves could be best appreciated. Each of these beads looks like its own little forested planet. Though these particular beads are from Australia, rhyolite is mined in several countries. In fact, it was named by a German explorer, who found it in the Rocky Mountains in the 1860's. There are even small quarries in Pennsylvania that date to prehistoric times.
This necklace has 432 carats of rhyolite with small black chalcedony beads and Balinese silver accents between them. The Thai silver tapers (dividing the larger from the smaller rhyolite beads) are made only in Surin Province. Alas, my source for these no longer exists as fewer and fewer of the rice farmers do this work. The necklace is 24.75" long.