This is a spectacular demonstration of hand-craftsmanship. Thisgemstone globe is painstakingly assembled by hand using over manydifferent genuine gemstones from around the world! The globe itself is8-1/2" in diameter! It is mounted on a beautiful Pegasus-shaped heavypolished and plated brass stand. The dimensions of the base areapproximately 15-1/2" by 11-1/2" and the entire piece is 21" tall. Theocean is black and each country is inlaid with a different gemstone,and the stones are individually cut and ground to exacting interlockingshapes, polished and set into this exquisite piece of art with care andattention to the detail. The latitude and longitude lines are very thinribbons of brass, embedded through the globe. The globe is new and inmint condition. This is the ultimate gift for any world traveler, mapor globe collector, nautical, maritime, boat or sailing aficionado orgeography buff! These globes are generally sold only at high-end retailand specialty stores as they are of such high quality - they oftenretail for much greater prices, but we are offering these globes atwholesale prices!

In Greece, storytellers used to describe the world as a flat disk,surrounded by the "Ocean River." Hundreds of years later, Aztec Indiansin Central America had a very similar idea: They believed the world wasa flat disk with a great circle of water around it.

Around 250 B.C., the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes noticedthat a post in the city of Alexandria, Egypt cast a shadow at noon onthe summer solstice, the longest day of the year. But at the same timein Syrene, a town due south from Alexandria, a similar post did notcast any shadow. Eratosthenes figured the sun must be shining its lightat these two towns from different angles. The sun was directly abovethe post in Syrene, so the post did not cast any shadow. But thesunlight was shining toward Alexandria at an angle. This was becausethe earth's surface was curved, Eratosthenes reasoned. By knowing thedistance between the two cities and by calculating the angle of thepole to the shadow, Eratosthenes was able to apply geometric theory todetermine the size of the earth. In 140 B.C., a Greek known as Cratesof Mallus built what may have been the first globe in history. It ishard to picture what was on that globe, since the Greeks only knew whata small part of the planet looked like. They had never traveled toChina, Australia or the Americas, so none of those places could havebeen on the globe.

Before European explorers and conquerors sailed across theoceans in the 1400s and 1500s, cartographers in Europe made globes. In1492, Martin Behaim, a German cartographer, made the oldest globe thatstill exists today. Years later, the Dutch would become famous formaking the best globes and maps.

Product SKU: Item: Q-0500-CL