Ancient

Women in Ancient Times loved Awesome Earrings like we do! And very beautiful ones. Although I would imagine that those who were lucky enough to wear them must have been the elite of their time. 

Hello, and Happy October to you. Fall is my favorite time of year. I find it energizing. It's fleeting here in Michigan; we're lucky to have a small handful of sunny, cool days, but they are the best of the best when they come around. :) 

I've always enjoyed browsing images of ancient jewelry. History intrigues me. I am amazed by the beauty some were able to wear. Gemstones and gold! 

This particular image is of a pair of earrings that were made/worn in about 500 AD, during the Byzantine era, "earrings with pendant chains". It's said they were very popular during that time, but only five (5) earrings are known to have survived. There is one earring "in Baltimore," and a pair in the "Farrell Collection," each with pendant crosses, pearls and semi-precious stones. This image and the info came from the "Christie's" website, and these little lovelies fetched $15,000. 

FYI "The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople." 

What an amazing find, in such beautiful condition. 500 AD! I kept the image in a folder I have titled "Design Inspiration," where I have hundreds of images of stunning jewelry, from all over, including all of our EE talents. This one I have been enamored with for quite some time. 

Rather than use them for inspiration only, I decided to re-create the design in my own way, in our timeline, :), with the materials I love to work with. And there's also the fact that gold is a bit out of my price range. :) Perhaps someday, hundreds of years from now, someone will stumble upon my earrings, and think they're a fun find. 

So here is my interpretation. 



 I chose to use a plain hoop rather than a hoop with ear wire attached. As the AEs (ancient earrings) have a pearl wrapped to the hoop, I did the same. These sweet rondelle-shaped Pearls came from TheFickleBead and I am in love with them. They're a soft peachy ivory and have decent-sized holes. These are wrapped in 22 gauge copper wire.

The beautiful, faceted blue/green stones are Apatite. The way the AEs have the emerald wrapped made me chuckle. If you look at the wire above the emerald, there appears to be a headpin wrapped around the wire holding the emerald, right? Yet at the bottom of the emerald the wire is rather wound and bunched to keep the bead on. Christie's refers to it as a "large granule above the spiral." To me it's a headpin! lol So I used headpins to hold the Apatite, and then used another to create the "spiral" and the "granule." I also chose to put it on the opposite side of the hoop as the pearl, rather than on the same side.

Rather than use a chain, I braided copper wire. I started out with a heavier gauge wire, but  it was too much. Everything I used was scaled down compared to the AEs, as far as the diameter of the wire, the hoop, the length and dimensions of the emeralds and their findings. It just looked better, and I love it. I have never braided wire before. I do know that it is something I will do more often. What a great way to change things up a bit. Hanging from the "chain" are pewter arrow charms, made by Vincent 'n Nooma of Inviciti.

So that's that! This was really one of the most fun projects I've done. Thanks so much for stopping by. We all appreciate it, as well as your comments and feedback. Have a great couple of weeks. I'll be back Oct. 18. Thank you!

Norbel
She Flies Again - my Etsy shop