The inspiration:
Magnolia blossoms - honeysuckle - sunlight on bare skin (finally) - birdcall - May sunsets

The materials:
Like roots, stamens or branches, delicate tendrils expand from rosy pink opals that emanate freshness and beauty.

The history:
Milky-pink with a subtle glow of translucency, pink opal is a stunning variety of common opal often found in the Andes mountains (when referred to as Peruvian, or Andean opal.) Like precious opal, pink opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica, and unlike precious opal, it doesn’t show a play of light but rather soothing, soft pinks, grey and greenish blues and milky whites with a slight translucency or sheen. Its beauty has captured wearers for centuries: opal artifacts as old as 10,000 years have been found at archeological sites, and the name opal is thought to come from the Sanskrit word Upala, meaning ‘jewel’, which later lead to the Romans referring it to Opalus and the Greeks as Oppálios, both meaning (roughly) “precious stone”. The Greek and Roman empires believed that opal symbolized foresight, intuition, purity and hope, and these associations made opals a favoured gem of European royalty through the middle ages to the modern era. Opal is the birthstone for October babies, and during the Victorian era, an odd (and greedy!) superstition developed that opals were considered unlucky when worn by anyone not born in October! Thankfully, the stone is now broadly considered one of the luckiest gems because of its magical range of colors, especially when given as a gift to a worthy wearer (including one’s self!) These pink opals were sourced from fellow Etsy seller PierreRouge, located in Marieville, Québec.

The process:
I have recycled almost all of the silver used to make these earrings; melting sterling scrap down to form silver ingots, flattening and drawing the silver down to plate (and sometimes wire) using hammers and my rolling mill, and then using this newly reclaimed silver to create my work. These oddly floral-inspired settings centre the soft, rosy pink opals as a gentle seed sprouting ball-tipped sterling silver tendrils. The cushion-shaped cabochons are neatly set in clean-edge bezels against solid backplates, their tiny wire sprouts outlined by a delicate patina and a high polish. A standard (20g) stud post and butterfly back placed at the centre back of the stone setting allow these light earrings to be worn hanging tendrils down, or tendrils up, along your earlobe, as the mood dictates!

The details:

• Earring length (total): 19 mm

• Earring width (widest point): 11 mm

• Stone cut & size: pink opal cabochons, 8 mm x 8 mm

• Recycled components: silver earring construction

• Stone source: Pink Opal - PierreRouge in Marieville, Québec, Canada

My promise:
All of my jewelry is made by me, by hand, in my little home studio and will be shipped to you as shown, beautifully packaged and ready for gift-giving to someone special (like yourself!) I am a life-long artist and designer, and I take great care and pride in creating one of a kind jewels that evolve from my own design, emotion and inspiration, rather than trend, imitation or artifice. It means the world to me that you've witnessed my work - thank you for being here, and for shopping and supporting handmade!