Please note: This necklace is Ready to Ship and will leave the studio in 3 - 5 business days. The chain is 16 inches in length. If you would like a different chain length you must email us with your desired length immediately after placing your order. 

If you purchase this item with any other jewel, please be aware that our jewelry is handmade to order and takes approximately 6-8 weeks to create before shipping, meaning your Ready to Ship jewel will ship with the rest of your order. This cuts down on multiple shipping costs for you, and unnecessary waste for the environment. If you would like this Ready to Ship jewel sooner than the rest of your order, please reach out to us via email. 

An oval cut labradorite gemstone is cradled within a setting composed of life cast bat wing bones echoing a baroque mirror frame. 

Rich with meaning and metaphor, the Bat has conflicting reputations. Here, in America, it is associated with fear, death and the scarier aspects of the night. It appears in Vampire lore and in other gothic horror tales as something to be feared, especially in the supernatural sense. Yet in China, it has been revered as a symbol of good luck and prosperity since antiquity, appearing on furniture, clothing and jewelry. 

When I think of the Bat, I think of its amazing ability to “see” in the dark via echolocation. Known for their ability to do so whilst in flight, they are able to navigate the night while avoiding both other bats and elements of their terrain such as trees. Their lack of ability to see in the traditional sense makes for a wonderfully nuanced metaphor for being able to see with our other senses, such as our intuition, in times of anxiety, grief and during periods of other inky emotions. 

Akin to The Hanged Man tarot card, the Bat hangs upside down when resting / sleeping, curling its leathery wings over its body like a blanket. Just as The Hanged Man tarot card suggest seeing things from a different perspective, Bat can assist us to do the same, observing things with our intuition or in a ways we might not have thought of.  In a time when its easy to feel misunderstood / to misunderstand the intention of others due to the inability to perceive / be perceived with nuance, this jewel can be a reminder to observe and reflect from different perspectives. 

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* :

- 20mm wide 

- 39mm from top to bottom  

- Solid sterling silver: oxidized to achieve a stormy gray. Hand polished to reveal the luminous silver tones beneath.  

- This listing is for one necklace set with one 13 x 18mm Labradorite gemstone

- Seen on Miguel on a 20 inch chain

Labradorite:

Labradorite is known for its healing properties, in particular for its ability to relieve anxiety & melancholy. It is also said to be used to dispel negativity & fear, acting as a kind of psychic armor to protect against more troubling & turbulent emotions. As a 'sister' to moonstone, Labradorite is often associated with the more "darker" aspects of the Goddess, in her Crone form, full of the experience & wisdom of life and death, associated with the darker moon: waning through new moon phases.

It is also a stone of transformation, and is said to help those with intuitive gifts to awaken and realize their full potential as well as helping enhance creative talents. It also ranks as one of the most protective stones, shielding its wearer from negativity. Much like its 'sister' Moonstone, Labradorite has been used and worn in many cultures and tribes for both its incredible natural beauty, and for its potent magical properties.

As they are entirely natural, earth made stones, color and clarity will vary from stone to stone.  Labradorite has natural lines and inclusions and varies in shades of green (teal, swamp green, olive green) to shades of (light grey to dark) blue. 

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