Fireflies golden rutilated quartz sterling hoop earrings with 22k gold accents, clear golden stones, summer shops artisan jewelry, one of a kind

Think of what starlight
And lamplight would lack
Diamonds and fireflies
If they couldn't lean against Black..
- Mary O'Neill

For me, there is a very special magic in spotting the first firefly of summer. My favourite annual ghost, the most otherworldly visitation. Even if I see only one, its empyrean presence lights my entire year.

The name quartz comes from the Saxon word querklufterz which meant cross vein ore, alluding to how the stones in the quartz family are formed. The quartz family includes stones such as agate, chalcedony, carnelian, amethyst, citrine, jasper, chrysoprase and herkimer diamond and has been favoured as decoration since the Bronze age. Largely carved into ornaments with a high degree of detail including decorated vessels and jewellery like finely detailed intaglios and cameos, faceted beads and prismatic shapes, quartz was long believed to be ancient water ice, now made permanent by the passage of time. Rutile is related to titanium, and often forms gold, orange, or rusty-red needle-like crystal inclusions inside quartz (the name rutile comes from the Latin word rutilus, meaning red.) The rutile was believed to intensify the energetic properties of the surrounding quartz crystal, enhancing calm, clarity of mind and creative thought.

Glowing with golden needles, these beautiful quartz cabochons hover within silver rings touched with gold. The framed bezels shimmer with delicate texture while the open-back settings allow the stones to shine. The flashy gold rutiles within the water-clear quartz are echoed by tiny beads of recycled 22k gold below, and enhanced by a subtle patina to contrast their brilliance. The wide, open sterling wire hoops swing from handmade, rounded standard 20g sterling earwires.
The perfect length for a swingy dangle earring, these measure 1.85" (4.7 cm) long by just over .8" (2.1 cm) wide at their widest point. A pair of clear silicone stoppers is included to keep them securely on your ears.
I have recycled almost all of the silver (and the 22k gold) used to make the settings for these earrings; melting sterling scrap down to form silver ingots, flattening and drawing the silver down to plate using hammers and my rolling mill, and then using this newly reclaimed silver to create my work.

All of my jewelry is made by me in my cozy home studio and will be shipped to you as shown, beautifully shops packaged and ready for giving as a gift for someone special (like yourself...?)

Thank you for shopping and supporting handmade!