The pair standing on a white stone: silver button, green peridot and amethyst drop

Collection Creazioni in Argento·Orecchini

Sterling silver drop earrings with cabochon amethyst drop and faceted oval peridot

Name: Sterling silver drop earrings with cabochon amethyst drop and faceted oval peridot
Brand: Anna Gioielli
SKU: OV1
Price: 180.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

Thirty-five millimeters from lobe to tip: the green of the peridot above, the purple drop of the amethyst below.

€180,00 OV1

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

Each earring is made of three pieces hung one below another, and each turns on its own ring. On the lobe sits a domed silver stud, its surface rough and matt with a small round hollow at the center, like a pebble worn by water. Below, a faceted oval peridot held by four claws: it is the small stone, and it is the only one of the two that sparkles — the green has a yellow note inside it, and under the facets it changes intensity with every movement. At the bottom hangs the larger one: an amethyst drop, cut as a cabochon and closed inside a continuous silver sheet setting that runs all the way round its outline and rises a hair onto its edge. The purple is not laid on evenly — it runs in darker bands and almost transparent zones — and the smooth dome sends out no sparks but a single long reflection that runs as the earring swings. Green and purple are the two furthest colors you could hang from the same silver thread, and here they sit one below the other with nothing in between to reconcile them.

Thirty-five millimeters from lobe to tip, and seven grams ninety of silver at nine hundred and twenty-five thousandths: the company states that weight once only, without saying whether it is for one earring or for the pair, and we do not decide that in their place. Peridot and amethyst have nothing in common but the place they occupy, and behind both there is the same element: peridot is olivine, and its green comes from the iron that has been in the crystal since it formed; amethyst is quartz, and its purple comes from iron again, but iron that entered the lattice in place of silicon and was then struck by the radiation of the rock. The same metal inside the stone, two opposite colors outside. The peridot is also the more delicate of the two to set: at between six and a half and seven on the hardness scale it is softer than quartz, and the pressure that settles an amethyst is already too much for it — which is why it sits on claws, taking it at four points and leaving it free, while the purple drop carries a setting beaten over all the way round. The company states the stones are natural; the carat weight it does not state, and we do not add it.

The material

Weights and carats as the workshop declares them.

7,90 gramsSilver 925‰

Metals: Silver 925‰
Finish: Rough, matt lobe stud; polished settings and rings
Dimensions: Length 35 mm
Technique: Made by hand: the lobe stud left rough, the peridot set on four claws, the amethyst closed inside a continuous sheet setting worked to the outline of the drop, the three elements joined by rings that let them turn, post and butterfly at the back.

The stones

Amethyst

One per earring, at the bottom, inside a closed setting

Cut: Drop, cabochon
Note: Stated natural by the company; the carat weight is not stated

Peridot

One per earring, between the lobe stud and the amethyst

Cut: Faceted oval, on four claws
Note: Stated natural by the company; the cut is not stated and is read off the photographs; the carat weight is not stated

Three-quarter view: the thickness of the amethyst domes and the three jointed rings can be read

Laid out on the stone: the two amethyst drops in the foreground, the peridots and the buttons behind

Hanging from a dry branch, over the whole length from the lobe to the tip of the drop

On the bark, the oval peridot on the four prongs and the post visible behind the button

Foreshortened on the wood: the edge of the bezel running all around the amethyst drop

The earring worn on the lobe, with the drop hanging free

How it is made

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

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 on evenly — it arranges itself in zones and bands, deeper on one side and paler on the other — and orienting the stone properly on the lap is exactly what spreads it out. It is as hard as citrine, seventh degree, and it is worn every day with no care against scratches; but that purple is the most delicate thing it has. A strong, continuous light fades it, and heat wipes it out altogether: an amethyst heated enough turns yellow, and that is how a good part of the citrine on the market is born. Purple once lost does not come back.
Peridot: Peridot is olivine, and its green does not come from a treatment: it is iron, in the crystal since it formed. That is why the color does not depend on how you turn it — it has no good axis and no bad one — and it stays that green with a yellow note in it that no other gem repeats exactly. The difficulty is in setting it: at between six and a half and seven on the hardness scale it is softer than the quartzes, it fears acids and sudden changes of temperature, and it almost always has inclusions that the heat of friction can open. It is polished wet and with frequent stops, and the setting is closed by pressing a little at a time: the force that settles a quartz is already too much for a peridot.
Cabochon cut: No facets: the stone is cut down and polished into a continuous dome. It is not the easiest cut, it is the cut that hides least — on a smooth surface every undulation reads with the naked eye, whereas among facets it is lost. And the light does not come back in sparks: it goes in, crosses the thickness and comes back up carrying the color with it, so what you look at is the color and not the fire.
Closed sheet setting: The setting does not hold the stone with tabs: it is a continuous silver band, soldered all round the base, which is beaten over the edge of the dome until it covers it by a hair all the way round. The band has to be cut to the exact size of the cabochon before it is closed — a tenth too wide leaves the stone rattling, too narrow and it will not go in — and it is beaten over turning gradually, never one side at a time, because forcing it on one side lifts the gem on the other. There is one more risk than with claws: here the edge of the setting is all the metal you see around the stone, so a blow out of place stays on show, and to remove it you would have to file away the very sheet that is holding it.
Post and butterfly fastening: The post passes through the lobe and a butterfly holds it at the back, two metal wings that grip the stem 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 perpendicular 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, on the other hand, is the part that gets lost: it holds by friction, and friction drops 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 a great deal 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