Due to the special nature of these jewels, they are only available for purchase one per person. 

IMPORTANT: This listing is for a One of a Kind jewel that cannot be replaced. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely into your hands. 

This necklace is Ready To Ship and will leave the studio in 3 - 5 business days. 

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. 

Rings of life cast bat bones and 'bat lichen' create a stunning frame that cradles an impressively large Black Tourmaline/Rutile quartz oval cabochon. This is my personal favorite jewel from this collection of OOAKs and is hard to part with !

One of the things I love most about stones with these sorts of inclusions is how they are tethered to how our ancient ancestors choose and wore jewelry. Famed for its unique marriage of crystals, the needlelike threads remind me of hair trapped within. Gold Rutilated Quartz has been called Venus Hair by the Romans and Aphrodite Hair by the Greeks, due to the Gold "goddess hair" strands captured with the quartz. These black needles remind me of "witch hair" and invoke the qualities of the witch archetype: magic, mastery of ones self, mystery and an inclination towards the natural and unseen worlds.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the painting ‘Dryad’ by Andrew Wyeth after coming across it at a recent visit to the Brandywine museum. A giant tree painted in muted shades of egg tempura fills up the composition ~ a winter tree, leafless. What dominates the eye and drew me to it from across the room like an eerie magnet was a large dark hollow. It felt alive in the way that certain paintings can be to me, & perhaps to you too. As I read the title card, I discovered how Wyeth had originally painted a figure in the hollow and then decided against it, painting over it in dark washes, that when looking closer, I could faintly see. There was something about this ghostly figure & this painting that feels tethered to every hollow feeling I’ve had lately, of every feeling of wanting to be inside this hollow, or the hollow of the oak tree near the lake where I leave roses for my grandmother & watch the bats weave through its branches at dusk, or the hollows of the trees on walks in MN that are truly only small enough for the birds.

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* :

- 88 mm from top to bottom

- 46 mm wide

- Solid Sterling Silver  

- Both pendant and chain are hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy grey and then highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- Set with one oval 51 x 30 mm Rutilated Quartz Cabochon

***IMPORTANT***  

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