3D Crystal for Virgo

The figure engraved inside a block of optical crystal as a pattern of connected points, with the constellation traced over it, the symbol above and the name below. Virgo gifts are usually bought for someone exacting, which raises the bar on the object, and this one has the advantage of being accurate: what is engraved is the actual star pattern, not a decorative approximation of it.

The Largest Constellation of the Twelve

Virgo covers more sky than any other zodiac constellation and is the second largest of all eighty eight. Despite that size it is not loud: one bright star, Spica, and a long scatter of fainter ones that take some working out. The remarkable thing about it is invisible without a telescope. Behind Virgo lies the Virgo Cluster, well over a thousand galaxies bound together, the nearest large cluster to our own. The constellation that looks the emptiest to the naked eye is the one with the most behind it, which is a fair description of the sign as its own people tend to describe it.

Precision as a Trait

Virgo is traditionally associated with attention to detail, usefulness and a low tolerance for things that are nearly right. A gift for this sign fails on small faults rather than large ones, so the relevant specification is that the engraving sits inside the material: there is no printed layer to lift at an edge, no surface to mark, nothing that degrades with handling. It will look the same in ten years as it does on the day it arrives. The figure is drawn as connected points rather than as an illustration, which keeps it on the side of a star chart and avoids the soft mystical styling that puts a lot of people off zodiac objects entirely.

Three Sizes, and the Base

Three sizes are made. The small sits in one hand, while the large is what gives the figure presence across a room.

The proof costs nothing and arrives before engraving. A paid 3D Preview is $9.99 and comes off the price. Where Standard cuts 3 million points, Ultra HD cuts 4.5 million. Up to 50 per cent more, put simply. Light from underneath is what the engraving wants.

Names and dates are engraved free of charge. Order the same crystal twice and the second is half price. Choose a sharp, well lit picture cropped at the waist. Each image is examined by hand before engraving.