Koma Stone Armband, Ghana

Mostly rust-brown and wrinkled, with a pale vein flashing along one side.

This granite armband is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. A band cut from solid stone is heavy and smooth, and its simple circular form changes little from one maker to the next. Circular band with a heavily textured, creased surface, brown with grey overtones. Chalky white lines trace the left edge and the interior wall, and the opening is slightly lopsided, with a rough crust around the rim. It is 4.75 inches wide, 4.75 deep and 1 high.

Wrinkled and weathered, like a very old wedding ring.