IMPORTANT: This jewel is limited based on the small quantity of stones we have in the studio 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: You must either leave your ring size in the notes section while going through the check out process or reach out to us via email after placing your order to confirm your ring size. We cannot begin creating your ring until your ring size is confirmed. 

Because these stones are limited, we are not able to accommodate any requests for specific stone preferences.

The unusual and striking Bleeding Heart Flower (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) was originally native to the woodlands of Asia where it thrived in the early Spring light before the tree canopy leafed out. Brought to England in the 1800’s by plant hunters who were fascinated by its unique shape and bright color, the flowers became stars of the Victorian garden boom. There it became part of the language of flowers and was exchanged between those seeking to declare romantic intention, as well as becoming a symbol of enduring affection and undying love due to its shape and seasonal return.

Despite these more romantic associations, it was also associated with heartbreak and unrequited love, both due to the “bleeding” aspect of the flower and as well as folklore from Japan. This folklore tells a tale about a spurned prince who’s death after being rejected from a beautiful maiden caused the plant to grow in the spot where his blood had spilled.

From Asia it was introduced to the US, which already had native variants of its own, including the pale white/pink Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis), known to the indigenous people of Northern America. Used for skin aliments and to ease menstrual cramping, it was also considered food for the spirits by the the Onondaga, as well as a love charm to the Menominee.

Religious groups associated it with sacrifice and compassion, especially around Easter and Spring, when it returned in bloom; considering the “blood” of the flower to be the blood shed on the cross. There is also some history that a Jesuit priest may have first brought back the Asian Bleeding Heart in the 1700’s before it was popularized in Victorian gardens. This association makes me think of the symbolism of the Sacred Heart, the worship of the disembodied heart of a deity, wounded & bleeding, and yet radiant and strange.

Interestingly, despite and perhaps because of their beauty, all variants of Bleeding Heart flowers are poisonous to animals and humans alike, however are important for early pollinators such as bees who are able to crawl inside the opening of the heart. There’s something about this dualism that intrigues me, poison and love intermingling in a strange and beautiful flower that had originally grown hidden in the woods.

What I have loved most about it, aside from its Victorian associations, is its symbolism with heartbreak. To me they resemble heart shaped lockets overwhelmed and split open by grief, our heart’s blood spilling out ~ our sweetness and our sorrow caught in a single drop that hovers like a pendulum from the portals of our hearts, suspended forever like a lure for someone to collect. The hope that our hearts, no matter how wounded, can be mended, they we can remain tender and vulnerable to others and to the world’s marvels rather than tuck ourselves away in the deep forests of despair.

*Details* :

- 15 mm from top to bottom

- 20 mm wide

- Sits 7 mm off of the finger

- Solid Sterling Silver  

- Hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy gray and then highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- Set with one 10 x 14 mm oval black mother of pearl

- Last photo shows this ring paired with our Lily of the Valley Charm Bracelet and An End to Sorrow necklace.

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.

This jewel is hand cut and therefore may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. It has not been fabricated by a machine rather it hand cut and therefore might not be uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stone and the cut. 

Please note the black mother of pearls range in color but traditionally are dark in color with an iridescence that may include shades of pink, blue, green, and brown when turned in the light.

This jewel is hand cut and therefore may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. It has not been fabricated by a machine rather it hand cut and therefore might not be uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stone and the cut. 

***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 info@bloodmilkjewels.com