The pair on white silk, the two oval amethysts inside the silver hollow

Collection Creazioni in Argento·Orecchini

Almond-shaped sterling silver drop earrings with faceted oval amethyst

Name: Almond-shaped sterling silver drop earrings with faceted oval amethyst
Brand: Anna Gioielli
SKU: O5803ma
Price: 270.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

Forty-five millimeters from the lobe to the tip, and the amethyst sits inside the hollow, not on top of it.

€270,00 O5803ma

Drawn and built by hand at the bench, in Tosi.

On the lobe rests a satin silver sphere, matt like a small river pebble. From there the body of the earring hangs: a wide silver ribbon, bent into an almond and hollowed at the center like the bowl of a spoon, with the inside left satin and the edge re-polished. Over it runs a second ribbon, thin and bright, which crosses the first and follows its outline a hair's breadth away. Inside the hollow, held by four claws, sits a faceted oval amethyst: the purple is full at the center and lightens towards the edges, and under the facets the light moves when the earring swings. At the bottom the wide ribbon closes into a small crescent that comes away from the body and stays suspended, and beside it runs the thin wire ending in a point.

Forty-five millimeters from the lobe to the tip, one centimeter and seven wide. The silver is at nine hundred and twenty-five thousandths and weighs seven grams and seventy: the company states that figure once only, without saying whether it is for one earring or for the pair, and we do not decide that in their place. The body is not cut from a plate but cast: the model begins in wax, the wax is lost in the casting, and a form as hollowed and undercut as this one can be got in one way only. The amethyst is a quartz, and the purple comes to it from iron that entered the lattice while the crystal was growing — that is why the color runs in bands instead of lying evenly, and why a stone is chosen one at a time by looking at where the dark band falls. It is also a color that wears out: heat turns it and strong, continuous light puts it out slowly, so the earrings are not left in the sun on a windowsill. The carat weight of the stone the company does not state, and we do not add it.

The material

Weights and carats as the workshop declares them.

7.70 gramsSilver 925‰

Metals: Silver 925‰
Finish: Satin-finished in the hollow and on the sphere, polished on the ribbons
Dimensions: Length including hook 45 mm · width 1.7 cm
Technique: Lost-wax cast and finished by hand: the hollow left satin, the ribbons polished back one by one, the stone set in four claws, the post and butterfly back fitted at the rear.

The stones

Amethyst

One stone per earring, inside the hollow of the ribbon

Cut: Faceted oval
Note: Described by the company as «hardstone»; the carat weight is not stated

The two earrings laid out on a branch, the stones seen in three-quarter view

The pair resting against the branch, the two crossed ribbons in full light

Front view: the silver almond and the amethyst set on four prongs

One earring hanging from the branch, with the post and the butterfly back in view

The contrast between the satin-finished hollow and the polished wire that crosses it

The pair standing, from the sphere on the lobe to the crescent at the bottom

Three-quarter view, with the posts pointing upwards

The two earrings standing on a white stone, the two purples compared

The pair laid flat: the length of the posts and the butterfly backs can be read

Close-up of the amethyst and of the four prongs that hold it

Side view showing the depth of the hollow cut into the ribbon

How it is made

The words of the trade, one by one, explained to those who do not know them.

Lost-wax casting: The model is built in wax, coated in refractory plaster and then heated until the wax runs out: what is left is a void of the exact shape, and into that void the molten silver is poured. To get the piece out the mold has to be broken, so every casting uses up both the wax and the mold, and the model you started from no longer exists. It is the way to get what the saw and the file would not — ribbons that overlap, undercuts, voids closed on every side — but if the metal does not reach the end of a thin branch the piece comes out incomplete, and it cannot be mended: it is melted down and you start again from the wax.
Amethyst: Amethyst is purple quartz, and the purple does not come from a pigment: it comes from a few atoms of iron that ended up in the lattice in place of silicon and were then struck by the natural radiation of the rock. That is why the color is almost never laid evenly — it arranges itself in areas and bands, heavier on one side and lighter on the other — and orienting the stone properly under the wheel is exactly what distributes it. It is as hard as citrine, the seventh degree, and it can be worn every day without care for scratches; but that purple is the most delicate thing it has. Strong continuous light fades it, and heat erases it altogether: an amethyst heated enough turns yellow, and that is how a good part of the citrine on the market comes about. The purple that goes does not come back.
Post and butterfly fastening: The post goes through the lobe and behind it a butterfly back holds it, two metal wings that grip the post by themselves. It is the simplest fastening there is, and precisely for that reason it has to be done well: the post has to be soldered square to the body of the earring, because if it starts even slightly crooked the piece hangs askew on the lobe and there is no straightening it by wearing it. The butterfly back, on the other hand, is the part that gets lost: it holds by friction, and friction falls off over the years until one day it no longer holds. You check it by pinching it lightly between two fingers, and when it has stopped offering resistance you change it — it costs little, and it costs far less than the earring.

I don't look at what others are doing: I would rather create in my own style. That is what makes our jewelry recognizable.
Fabio Gori — Anna Gioielli, Tosi

Made for you

Every piece leaves the bench made to order: sizes and details are agreed before the work begins.

The goldsmith's workshop is also the place where made-to-measure jewellery is created and family pieces are restored: if you have an idea, or something you want brought back to how it was, that is where it starts.

Ask for a made-to-measure piece

Made by

Anna Gioielli

A goldsmith's workshop in Tosi, on the slopes of the Pratomagno: Anna opened it in 1988, her sons Fabio and Francesco carry it on. Piercing, repoussé, chasing and burin engraving — the Florentine school, with the workshop in full view of the shop.

All the creations by Anna Gioielli