Sterling Silver Pendants

When buying silver, there are generally two ways to go. You can either buy jewelry made from sterling silver, .925, or you can buy Tibetan silver. Tibetan silver is 63% silver while sterling is 92.5% silver. Tibetan silver is found in tons of bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. from Tibet and Nepal. Tibetan silver does not, however contain nickel and it will not turn your fingers or wrists green. In general, when you are buying rings and earrings and rings, you can choose to purchase sterling silver or Tibetan silver. If you are extremely sensitive you may choose to stick with sterling silver, and there are tons of beautiful sterling silver designs, like those found on our sterling silver rings page. But for most people, the Tibetan silver rings and etc. can be worn as well, depending on the style you are more interested in wearing. But for things like pendants and prayer boxes, regardless of your sensitivity, you can wear either Tibetan silver or sterling silver, no problem. At Om Tibetan Jewelry, we have a large variety of pendants and prayer box gaus in both sterling silver and Tibetan silver. We also sell gold ghaus and pendants. But regardless of which one you choose, you can be sure that the stone used in the pendant is real, because Tibetan jewelry and jewelry from Nepal is only made using real stones. We just uploaded some new pendants in both the sterling silver pendants section and the Tibetan silver pendants section, so check out our new pendants on the links. Here are some photos of the new pendants...

This sterling silver om pendant is made from sterling silver, .925, and the stone at the top of the pendant is turquoise. The om symbol is written in the Tibetan style, rather than sanskrit. You can tell the difference because the second character in the Tibetan style looks like a 'v', whereas it looks like a "0" in Sanskrit.



This sterling silver fish pendant is made from sterling silver, .925, and the turquoise stone in the center of the pendant is made from turquoise.



And now here are a couple of the new Tibetan silver pendants we just placed online...

This Kalachakra mantra pendant is made from Tibetan silver, and the small stones around the outside of the pendant are made from coral and turquoise. The Kalachakra mantra symbol is in the center of the pendant. This symbol is also called, the ten-fold powerful symbol, primarily because it is made up of ten individual symbols stacked up on each other to form this one symbol.



This copper monkey pendant is made from copper. This pendant is 2 inches wide so it is a fairly large pendant, but it's still pretty light to wear.

Om Symbol Tibetan Jewelry

The Om symbol is a very important symbol in Tibetan jewelry and accessories. The word 'Om,' Aum is the primordial symbol, the first sound ever heard, and the sound that the earth was created by. The sound, om, starts with an opening of the lips and ends with a closing. This represents pulling all things into the body while making the sound, 'om.' The Om sound is similar to the Greek Logos, and in Christianity Om could be linked to the Christian Amen. Everything in the world both begins and ends with the Om.

The Om symbol is found in both Hinduism and Buddhism, and began in Hinduism, but I will first discuss the sound om and its cosmology in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism, the most used mantra is 'om mani padme hum.' This phrase means 'hail to the jewel in the lotus.' This mantra is the mantra of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.

When Buddhist practioners recite this mantra they are striving to attain a Buddha-like mind and spirit. This means a mind and spirit free from earthly evils such as attachment, jealousy, and greed. And the Buddhist practitioner wants to find more love, peaceful bliss, and contentment. "Om Mani Padme Hum" is also the Bija mantra in Tibetan Buddhism. This means that it is the seed, or original mantra.

The Tibetan Om symbol is different than the Hindu Om in appearance. The first character of both om symbols, from a western perspective, looks like a backwards three. But the second symbol of the sanskrit om looks like a circle, while the second symbol of the Tibetan om looks like a V. The earrings pictured above represent the Tibetan om symbol. On our website we also offer purses and other items with the sanskrit om symbol. But regardless of whether the symbol is a Tibetan Buddhist or Hindu symbol, the om symbol is always recognizable as om.

In Hinduism the om symbol is the first symbol of all of the mantras, and each of the mantras in the Upanishads begins with om. Yoga classes in the west are traditionally started and ended with the om sound, or with an entire mantra. By starting and ending a yoga class with om, the teacher brings a sense of opening and closing to each class, almost as if she ended each class with a 'the end.' In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which are where much of the philosophy in modern-day yoga classes comes from, in verse 1:27 states, "God's voice is Aum." Meaning that not only is om the beginning and ending of all things, it is also from God, and to go further it is God.

Om jewelry is very popular in Tibet, India, and Nepal, and it is gradually becoming more and more popular in the west as well. To wear om symbol jewelry means that the person wearing it is interested in Buddhism, or Hunduism, or that they understand what the 'om' symbol means. If you are interested in purchasing Tibetan om jewelry, or jewelry with the om symbol, please go to our Tibetan jewelry section. We also have the om symbol on items in our Handmade Bags section, which feature bags from Nepal in the Tibetan style. There are also Tibetan om symbols on other items in sections throughout our site, including Tibetan prayer flags, Tibetan prayer wheels, and our Lokta Paper Journals.