Dear you, I am writing to you on the cusp of a new year, on the liminal bridge between years. I am offering a signet ring of the sea - a signing of your name that is soaked in the brine of the deeps, the barnacles evidence of ancient time, sparkling with a ‘sea-change’ in the form of the earth’s gem stones. 

One summer day long ago, Percy Shelley took his boat, “Ariel” out on to sea off the Gulf of Larici in Italy where he was staying with his wife, Mary Shelley, infamously know to have written “Frankenstein”. A violent storm, his and his crewmen’s inexperience and perhaps the boat’s poor construction caused him and the others to drown. Their bodies were cremated days later on the shore. While witnessing the funeral pyre of their friend, John Edward Trelawny retrieved the unburned and whole heart of Shelley from the flames, severely burning his hand in the process. The heart eventually made it to Mary Shelley, who wrapped it in poetry and kept it with her safely.

Something about this story, this unburned heart within a pyre near the sea - the way death and life, sorrow and the eternal endurance of Frankenstein and all who surrounded its fateful creation and around Mary Shelley, has always lit up my imagination. The gravestone of Percy Shelley features a part of Ariel’s song in Shakespeare’s The Tempest , which has also followed me around all these years, and 10 years of Sea Witch jewels:

    Nothing of him that doth fade, 

    But doth suffer a sea-change

    Into something rich and strange.

I think of Sea-change - the promise of transformation, of a huge shift - seismic and beautiful - but also the pain of it, how we must drown parts of ourselves or how others or circumstances out of our control, or the world drowns our hearts, how our hearts can be placed on funeral pyres - but also, how our hearts can still be ‘alive’ even if put to the flame - our poet’s hearts - rich with experience - with melancholy with strangeness … can still be whole. We may grow barnacles from our time in the deep, from being still in our solitude, but we can still find the stars ….we can still find each other to wrap our hearts in the poetry of kinship poetry, to keep our hearts close to one another. 

This ring is cast in sterling silver, hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy gray, and then finished to highlight the bright luminous silver beneath.

Details:

- Sits almost 9mm off of the finger

- 20 x 23mm 

- Solid sterling silver

- 6mm fine cut round Moonstone 

- Seen on Jen Von Haunt with the Eternal Return Bangle 

Moonstone:

Moonstone is closely tied to the moon, with some cultures believing the stone is solidified moon rays, while others think of them as embodiments of the moon's tears. Acting as a kind of Psychic armor, it is thought to protect its wearer from not only dark nights, but dark times; it helps sooth grief, loss, and other emotional turbulence.

Moonstone is known for its powerful psychic abilities. Used to protect empaths & sensitives from absorbing other people's emotions, it is also is known to be used during meditation for connecting to ones inner selves. As a romantic stone, it is known to strengthen the bonds between lovers when given as gifts, especially during the full moon.

As they are entirely natural, earth made stones, color and clarity will vary from stone to stone but each is selected by hand for its high quality. Moonstone often has a milky appearance and natural inclusions that appear as lines or inner 'cracks.’ The flash will contain shades of blue, violet, or teal, and occasionally hints of warmer / golden tones.  If you have any concerns over the stone that will be chosen for you, please contact us after making your purchase so we may best assist you.

These jewels are hand 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.

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