Quick Specs
- Type: Bottle pendant necklace
- Fill: Citrine and pyrite chips
- Bottle: Glass with cork, about 1 1/4 inches tall by 1/2 inch wide
- Overall Height: About 1 5/8 inches
- Charm: Gold-toned Chinese coin, round with a square hole
- Cord: Faux leather, 30 inches
A Slim Glass Vial With Citrine, Pyrite and a Coin Charm
The pendant is a slim vial of clear glass, about 1 1/4 inches tall and 1/2 inch wide, closed by a tan cork and capped with an ornate silver-toned bail of scrolls and loops. Seen through the glass, the chips are pale, in cream, clear and translucent tones with some tan pieces mixed among them, and they pack the bottle from base to shoulder. Each chip is a small, irregular fragment, so the arrangement shifts when you tilt the vial. A black cord wound around the neck holds a gold-toned coin, round with a square hole at its center, which hangs against the side of the glass with the black cord passing through the hole. With the bail, the whole pendant measures about 1 5/8 inches tall. A faux leather cord, 30 inches long, carries it. The coin gives the vial a bright accent beside the pale chips, and the silver-toned bail and gold-toned coin put two metal finishes on one small piece.
Citrine is the yellow to orange variety of quartz, silicon dioxide, rating 7 on the Mohs scale, with Brazil as its leading source, and most citrine sold in jewelry is amethyst that was heated until it changed color. Pyrite is iron disulfide, FeS2, rating 6 to 6.5, and it shows a pale brass-yellow color with a metallic shine that tarnishes darker over time. It forms in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks around the world, and it is especially common in coal and black shale. Chinese cash coins were round with a square hole for more than two thousand years, and the shape is said to stand for heaven and earth. In modern crystal practice, both citrine and pyrite go with the solar plexus chakra and with themes of abundance.
Practical Ritual Applications
Wear the vial on its 30 inch cord over a sweater or a shirt. For a prosperity-themed altar, set it on a green or gold cloth beside a candle in its own holder, a safe distance from the flame, and add a small dish of coins. At a desk, hang it from a lamp arm or a key hook so the gold coin catches the light. For a short meditation on the solar plexus chakra, hold the closed vial at your middle, just above the navel, and breathe slowly while the chips settle. If you’re building a wealth-themed shelf, my abundance, luck and prosperity stones hold more pieces to arrange around it.
How to Wear and Care for the Citrine and Pyrite Coin Necklace
Three steps cover the cord, the handling and the storage.
- Put On the Cord
Lift the vial by the cord and let it hang to see where it falls; the cord measures 30 inches. Turn the bottle until the coin faces forward. Check that the cork is snug in the neck and that the scrolled bail holds the cord firmly before you wear the necklace out, and look at how the pale chips sit against your clothes in good light.
- Keep the Pyrite Dry
Pyrite oxidizes when it meets air and moisture, and geology.com notes that it tarnishes readily. Keep the vial out of showers, bathrooms and damp pockets, and take it off before swimming or washing up. Wipe the glass and the coin with a soft, dry cloth, and keep the necklace away from young children, since the glass and the chips are small parts.
- Store It Dry and Separate
Lay the necklace in a small box or hang it from a hook in a dry room. Keep it apart from other jewelry so the glass stays clear of scratches and the coin stays clear of softer metal. A cloth lining keeps the vial from rolling when you open the box.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this necklace because it brings together three small things that read well together: pale citrine and pyrite chips, a corked glass vial and a gold-toned coin with a square hole. The solar plexus chakra and abundance links are modern crystal lore, so I offer them as themes for your own reflection. The coin’s round shape with a square hole has a long history in China, where it stood for heaven and earth. The vial is glass and the chips are small, so I treat it as an adult piece. Browse my amulets and talismans collection for other charms to wear or keep close.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chinese cash coins were round with a square center hole from about the third or fourth century BCE. The Pitt Rivers Museum says the circular outline is said to represent heaven and the square center earth, and the Money Museum describes the same pairing of a domed sky and a flat earth. Wikipedia adds that the hole also let coins be threaded together on strings.
The name comes from the Greek pyr, meaning fire. Wikipedia explains that pyrite was a stone that strikes fire, and geology.com notes that it makes sparks when struck against metal or another hard material. Its pale brass-yellow color and metallic shine also give it the nickname fool's gold, which Wikipedia records.
Crystal guides link both stones with the solar plexus chakra, the third chakra. Astrology.com names it for citrine and for pyrite, and Crystal Vaults lists it for both as well. Astrology.com describes pyrite as a symbol of abundance, prosperity and good luck, and Crystal Vaults calls citrine a stone of abundance. These pairings come from modern crystal practice, so use them as themes for reflection.
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