IMPORTANT: This strand is limited and we do not know if it will be available again in the future. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely into your hands. 

Milky and slightly iridescent Mother of Pearls with interesting inclusions in the shape of tears are paired with sterling silver hollow “pearls”. Designed to be a companion to our previously released Mother of Pearl rosary strand, this special piece was inspired by devotional beads, worn or used in prayer and in times of grief. 

It measures approximately 30 inches long from end to end, including clasp. At its closure is our new small Medium's Hand clasp, cast in sterling silver, oxidized to our favorite gloomy grey and finished to highlight the shining silver beneath.  

This clasp is tactile in nature making it easily held between the tips of your fingers and rubbed for comfort in times of grief, anxiety, dissociation, as well as during moments of joy and wonder.  

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.

These pearls are hand/shaped cut and therefore may have slight differences in size as well as small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. As these are hand cut and not fabricated by a machine, they can never be uniformly perfect. 

Every bead is hand selected for its beauty. 

***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