The malachite stone used to create this belt buckle was sourced from the Congo. Marko hand-cuts the majority of the stones he acquires to retain the raw lines and natural shape of the stone. This polished malachite stone has a beautiful figurative banding of light and dark green concentric rings. The stone is enveloped in a sterling silver setting that has been gilded in pure gold using electro plating. This gilding process means the metal does not wear down as quickly as standard plating or gold leafing. The sterling silver is hand-hammered using the extremely rare medieval process of working from the ingot and then hammering it into shape. This is a labor intensive method of sculpting using only the pressure of percussion. The belt strap is reversible; one side is made from violet purple whip snake and the other using emerald green soft suede.