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

This collar was created in homage to some of the first pieces I designed in the beginning of BloodMilk, and is composed with the same life cast boa ribs used in those early pieces. These snake ribs have been used in countless pieces and in this way, this snake lives on through all those who have worn its silver ribs, and I like to think that everyone who wears them is connected to this snake.

This design is meant to be a talisman of protection. Just as the ribcage protects vital organs, including the heart, these snake ribs are meant to be an additional layer of guardianship. Wear as a companion in times of grief, anxiety, or during other moments of turbulent emotion. It can also be worn as a travel talisman, for safety or luck while crossing thresholds away from home or while navigating spaces that feel unpleasant. 

Snake magic/medicine is especially important to me and has been since the beginning, as well as the image of the tear, represented here by a tear shaped black Mother of Pearl cabochon. For me, this represents the 'Sea of Grief' I've spoken of elsewhere. The idea is that our heart is filled with the ocean, and when we are grieving, it can feel like a sea of grief, with each sadness commingling. Grief can come in waves, and it can feel good to have something tactile to anchor us to our bodies.

Additionally, this jewel makes a wonderful frame for jewels worn above it. Layer it with other jewelry or wear it by itself for a bold statement piece.

*Details* :

- 90 mm wide

- 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 13 x 18 mm Black Mother of Pearl tear

 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. This has not been fabricated by a machine, it has been made by hand and therefore isn't uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stone. 

***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