In honor of the beauty of the natural sea, these earrings are made with blues and greens that we celebrate in nature. They are made with blue recycled glass beads made in Africa. The glass beads have a texture and irregularity that adds to their charm, and feature aquamarine and olive jade chips with sterling silver beads and silver plated ear wires. These earrings have refreshing and elegant quality and measure 2” in total length with drops at 1 ½”.

POWDER GLASS BEADS- Powder glass beads are made from finely ground glass, the main source being broken and unusable bottles and a great variety of other scrap glasses. The earliest powder glass beads on record were  discovered during archaeological excavations at Mapungubwe, in present-day Zimbabwe, and dated to 970-1000 CE. In our time, the main area of powder glass bead manufacture is West Africa, most importantly, Ghana. Beads still play important roles in Krobo society, be it in rituals of birth, coming of age, marriage, or death.

AQUAMARINE-The name Aquamarine comes from a Latin word meaning “water of the sea”. The watery blue color adds to its reputation of being a good talisman for sailors. Sailors in the middle ages believed it would ensure a safe passage. Legends from the middle ages claim that Aquamarine was the treasure of mermaids and could cure the effects of poisoning.

Olive Jade, also called ‘new’ jade is actually serpentine and is formed in many shades of green from light olive to golden and dark olive hues. The stone has similar properties of traditional jade such as tranquility and good fortune.