2020 Collection: Axis Mundi

I descended down a shaky 15-metre ladder, into darkness…

My feet touched the ground, and my eyes slowly adjusted to the unfamiliar environs. The mine owner, my guide, shone a torch through the tunnel. I followed him, my back hunched against the earthen wall, the twists in our seemingly endless hole meandering deeper and deeper. At some point, he noted that we were 150 metres below ground level. He pointed out different pockets containing an array of minerals: tourmaline, feldspar, albite, and of course, quartz… 

For Set in Stone’s 2019 Collection, I wrote about crossing a stream while feeling the stones as a metaphor to describe my eventual discovery of the brilliant, variegated realm of crystals and minerals. Shortly after the show closed, I flew to Brazil to visit the same mines that had produced my proudest specimen yet, a 156-kilogram citrine quartz point of astonishing clarity. 

I feel like I found Brazil. It is a land of welcoming, warm hearts and immense beauty. Its stunning vistas touched me. Its cuisine is now arguably my favourite. Its culture is rich, although still largely undiscovered by the rest of the world. For this letter, my partner drew my attention to the sensitive writings of Clarice Lispector, an acclaimed Brazilian author. And at the very heart of this land — or coração da terra — as they say in Portuguese, is its quartz. 

In many ancient cultures and religions, the cave is a universal trope and locus for the gestation of the sacred. Many an earth and water god has come forth from a cavern. Even Jesus was born again from a rock-hewn tomb. In this axis mundi, or centre of the world, the cosmic and magical manifests itself. Considering their origins deep in the geomantic mines, it is no wonder that crystals are considered auspicious.

I climbed back up the ramshackle ladder, the broad light dazzling my eyes after hours of darkness. Warmed again by the sun, the journey upwards felt like a rebirth. Perhaps in these most challenging of times, we need to look for a different kind of light — a light that will show us how to find all that was formerly lost — the manifold treasures this precious earth has to offer. 

Thank you for following this journey with Set in Stone thus far. We have miles yet to go, with both old and new things on the horizon.

Cliff Hartono

Founder, Set in Stone Gallery

The mines in the region of Minas Gerais give it its name (literally, “general mines”). If you have any quartz in your home, they are probably sourced from this humble, countryside state. The miners there are similarly unassuming — yet I could not fathom their proficiency in discerning the quality of superficially dull rocks. 

As I moved through the depths of this quarry in silence, I pondered the profundity of my guide’s vocation. Mining is finding that which has been long lost to time. The stones of this region are said to have been formed 400 million years ago. They are even older than the dinosaurs. Upon discovery, the miners send the specimens to craftsmen, cutters and polishers, who spend months carving out their beauty, so they emerge from the caves like diamonds from the rough. For our 2020 Collection, master blacksmiths have finished the long process, customising bronze pedestals for each piece. In my mind, these works are more than jewellery for your home — they crystallise the deep earth and its untold history. Lispector’s lucid words ring true for me; these crystals that were lost, then found, are indeed timeless.