Hi there
It seems jamey is the first western man who knows about shah maqsud
stone.i am very happy now becuse for several years i was in doubt
if shah maqsud is olivine or kind of serpentine.today i got my answer
and thx jamey.i also have a nice prayer beads shah maqsud.jamey describ
it very well.also afghanistan serpentine.once i asked an afghani guy
why they call it shah maqsud.he replied that there is a mountain and a valley that this stone comes from there.since past time its been famous
stone for making rosary beads in islamic countries.i met some brazilian
people who where looking for shah maqsud in iran,and i asked them how they know that.they replied that they are sufi and one afghani guy in
brazil recomend them to look for real shah maqsud.unfortunatly as the
rest of stones ,now adays chinees fake shah maqsud is also in bazar.
if you heard the name ahmad shah masud who was commander of opposition
northen aline during taliban rule in afghanestan.the man who was killed
some days before sep 11/i heard he has been also from shah maqsud valley.all this stories i heard from afghani guys and not by search.
by the way shah maqsud is a known stone in iran.
here is a link to see some strands of serpentine and other afghani stones i found before by search.
ALI