IMPORTANT: This jewel is limited and we do not know if they'll be available again in the future. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely into your hands. 

Please note : This necklace will be created with an 18" bar link chain. If you desire a different chain length you must reach out to us immediately after placing your order. 

At the time of my writing this, we are deep in the throes of Autumn in the part of the world where I live, despite the strange bursts of hot weather. Persephone has made her journey to the realms of the Underworld and soon, the leaves will have shed their last leaves and natural world will recede for many months. The energy has pointed towards a time of sharper remembrance in my household, as I feel closer to my ancestors; a clearer sense of grief has permeated both my waking and dreaming lives. I don’t imagine I am alone in my grief these days, the years have been unkind to many and we all carry our private heart aches, our personal apocalypses. It is with you in mind that we share my library of metaphor through jewels, it is for you I dream up talismans that may act as companions for these days and nights of turbulent feels. This jewel is for you too ~ a large tear of grief represented as a luminous Mother of Pearl, guarding your heart, assisting in carrying any feeling that may be just a little too much to bear on your own.

Set in a visual hybrid setting of ‘bat lichen’ and ‘bat lace’ made from life cast bat bones and meant to evoke both the forest and Victorian morning clothing, this design also evokes both the hollow of trees, the inside of shells, and the bats the settings were composed of. A marriage of the natural world and human emotion, this jewel is also an incredible statement piece. 

Bats:

Bats and their cast wing and leg bones have long been a component I’ve used in my visual library as a way of creating a personal visual language. As nocturnal creatures, I feel a kinship with their natural predilection for the night time hours, but I’m also interested in how they use sonar to ‘see’, how as a metaphor bats as liminal creatures also remind us to look closer with our other senses, a way of ‘seeing the unseen.’ It’s my hope and intention that pairing them with other chthonic imagery and myth further adds to the visual meaning I’m aiming for, creating a collage of personal ideas while also tethering these physical jeweled objects to the spirit of the bat ( and other natural objects in the case of other jewels in my collection ) and to the spirit of the myths I’m invoking.

*Details* : 

- 58 mm from top to bottom 

- 36 mm at its widest  

- Solid Sterling Silver, both pendant and chain are hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy gray and then highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- Set with one 20x30 pear cut Mother of Pearl cabochon 

Pearls

Have an ancient history of reverence as well as a long legacy of beauty. Pearls are formed when an external irritant, like a grain of sand, breaches the shell of an oyster or shelled mollusk. Once this irritant has gained entrance within the dark fleshy confines of the oyster, it goes to work protecting itself. If this irritant can’t be expelled, it begins to ‘bandage’ the grain, coating it with concentric rings of calcium carbonate, named ‘narce.’ Each layer that is built up forms the shape of the pearl, awash in a brilliant iridescence, a beauty born of a tiny trespass. Thusly, a pearl has at its center, the object of its creation, a foreign intruder.

I associate the pearl and its strange construction to so many things: the jellied caterpillar struggling within a chrysalis, its liquefied body form a new winged shape. An embedded star smoldering within the shell of our hearts. An ink dot, a pin prick, a moon in miniature. History, who has always loved and revered the pearl, writes that we once believed pearls were the result of lightning striking the shell and penetrating the inner skins of the oyster. A small beauty made in duress, a ‘stone’ of initiation. To possess a pearl means to own something that is hidden, sacred.

Lore has it that Cleopatra, to win a wager with Antony, dissolved a large, exquisite pearl in her drinking glass. She swallowed it in one sip. I wonder about her dreams that night.

These pearls are hand /shaped cut and therefore may have very slight differences in size and may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. These are not fabricated by a machine, they are made by hand and therefore aren't uniformly perfect.

The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stones and the cuts. Please note they range in color but traditionally, are light cream in color with a pearlescent flash. Some mother of pearls have a subtle iridescence which includes shades of pink, blue, and green when turned in the light.

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE.

If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com