Emergence Collection - Cuprum-17 Earrings

Cuprum-17 Earrings
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On Copper, Cyprus, & the Journey to Becoming

Copper is one of many elements present in the Earth’s crust. It is formed under great intensity in the magma chambers of volcanoes. As the magma boils, hot Sulphur solutions percolate up and carry a variety of metals with them. As these compounds are exposed to the elements, copper ore emerges.

Humans have been extracting Copper ore from the Earth since 9000 BC. It is one of the very first metals humans began working with. The ancient Romans called copper Cyprium, as it was primarily mined in Cyprus (later, the name evolved to Cuprum, and this is where copper’s symbol "Cu" originated).

Cyprus is said to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It is said she emerged naked from chaos on the coast of stormy Cyprus: “…and around them white foam arose from the immortal flesh, and in it a girl grew […] Out of the sea the reverend and beautiful goddess stepped and grass grew beneath her slender feet.”

Sometimes, we have to go through intense experiences in order to arrive. Life is imperfectly perfect, a journey of fire, movement, change, pressure, exposure, growth, and emergence. But no matter where you are on your journey, know that you can always emerge differently than before. Honor your journey with the Emergence Collection – it takes a special kind of intensity and grit to persist.

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These earrings are named Cuprum-17 because there are 17 or more steps involved in creating them.

Making these earrings was a journey in itself. They are handmade completely by me and involved great patience and care in every step from designing, acid etching, hand sawing, filing, sanding, pickling to sanding them again (and again), just to name a few of the steps.

Components: solid 22-gauge copper (acid-etched). Finished with a sterling silver ear wire.