Sterling Silver Fordite Pendant — Detroit Agate Square, Open-Back Shadowbox, Handmade by a Paleontologist, One of a Kind

A bullseye of color set in a little silver window.

This is fordite — also called Detroit agate — the hardened, layered overspray that built up on the racks of old automobile paint booths. Coat after coat baked hard over years, until it could be cut and polished like a gemstone. Every band of color is a different car that rolled down the line; the layers read like tree rings — a "fossil of the assembly line." The factory made it by accident, one coat at a time. No two pieces exist.

This square fordite — with a striking concentric "eye" in the pattern — is bezel-set in a recessed sterling silver shadowbox framed by a twisted rope border. The open back is a window: light passes through and lifts the color, and the reticulated silver back is finished as carefully as the front. An earlier piece, signed with the hand-scribed geometric mark he used before the dinosaur stamp.

Handmade by Bob Boscarelli — paleontologist and silversmith & lapidary working from Soquel, California. He studied jewelry at Cabrillo College under Dawn Nakanishi, whose rule stuck with him: make the back as nice as the front. Part of his Cyberzoic studio collection; arrives with a small card telling its story.

The details

• Technique: hand-fabricated sterling silver, rope-border shadowbox, open-back window, bezel-set
• Materials: sterling silver, fordite (Detroit agate)
• Size: approx 1.1″ square body × 1.4″ incl. bail
• Pendant only (no chain included)
• Signed on the back with his hand-scribed maker's mark (an early piece)
• One of a kind — only one exists.

Care: keep dry, avoid chemicals; polish gently.

Shipping: Free US shipping — ships from California via USPS Ground Advantage (tracked & insured), in protective packaging. Processing 3–5 business days. US-only to start.