Asturias Jet and Silver St. James Shell

Way of St. James Pilgrim Symbol. The scallop is often found in the Galician shores, so the pilgrims used to take a shell back to their origin towns as a proof they had arrived to the travel's end.

Jet (Azabache) Jet is a fossil material, coming from Jurassic period trees. Once polished, it acquires a strong black colour, jet black, which remains with the passage of time. In Spain there are deposits in Asturias, in the coast, from Gijon to Villaviciosa. These deposits are considered the best of te world, along with the english deposits in Whitby (Yorkshire), and have been used since prehistoric ages. Since ancient times jet has been considered a magic and protective material. Crude or carved, it has been used as a talisman, due to its high power as a shild against negative energies. One of the most well-known jet icons is the Higa, evil eye amulet, used in Spain since the arabic invasion. Jet is also the material used in most of the popular jewellery in northwestern Spain, and also craved as a memento for the Way of St. James pilgrims.