Kasena Stone Armband, Ghana

Scratched, banded and amber-toned, with the confidence of a well-travelled bangle.

This armband is Kasena, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. It is granite. Armbands and bracelets of stone, metal and ivory have been worn across West Africa, where they may signal age, status or belonging to a group. Thick ring of glossy tawny brown crossed by fine pale scratches and a few lighter veins. The profile is full and rounded, and the inner rim catches a soft highlight. It is 0.5 inches deep and 4 in diameter.

Every scratch here was earned the slow way.