{"product_id":"open-road-african-opal-horse-zodiac-necklace","title":"Open Road — African Opal Horse Zodiac Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn emperor started a war over horses he had only been told about.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecond century BC. Reports reach the Han court of horses in the Ferghana valley, far west beyond the empire, that are faster and taller than anything in China and that sweat something red. Heavenly horses, the reports call them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmperor Wu sends an envoy with gold to buy some. The envoy is refused, and killed. So the emperor sends an army. It fails. He sends a larger one. Somewhere around 101 BC, after years and a great many dead men, China gets its horses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is one of the few wars in recorded history fought specifically over an animal, and it worked — the bloodline changed Chinese cavalry, and the Silk Road opened partly because those armies had already walked the route.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn emperor started a war over horses he had only been told about.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWu, the seventh earthly branch, is the double hour from eleven until one — noon. The only branch that sits on the middle of the day. Full sun, no ambiguity, nothing hidden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003chr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe horse is blackened and mid-gallop, and everything around it is gold: the grass beneath, the clouds either side, and a rayed gold sun holding the opal at the top.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRunning animals usually look silly in jewellery because the legs get simplified into suggestions. This one keeps all four, which is the reason the piece works from a distance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe metal is solid 925 sterling silver. The gold is a plated finish over that silver and the horse carries a black finish over the same silver — plating is a surface, it wears with time, the silver underneath does not.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePosted to you tracked. 5–10 days to the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mane and tail are the slow work. They are cut as separate strands rather than a single mass, which is what stops the horse looking cast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMaterials\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural African opal — 4 mm round\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhite cubic zirconia accent stones — laboratory-made, not mined\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e925 sterling silver, gold plated, with a black finish on the horse\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePendant 25.49 mm across, on a box chain\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFree UK delivery · 5–10 days\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWorn for centuries as the sign of going, rather than of arriving. Some people feel something when they put a sign on. Some don't. Either way it is an old idea and it is accurately made.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Asi8","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49044068860074,"sku":"ASI8-OPA-022","price":189.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0719\/3313\/2970\/files\/22-1.jpg?v=1786612345","url":"https:\/\/asieight.com\/products\/open-road-african-opal-horse-zodiac-necklace","provider":"Asi8","version":"1.0","type":"link"}