An all new and phenomenal cuff by Wings.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

I've been promising this for days, but it wasn't ready yet:  an all new and phenomenal cuff by Wings.

I did say that it would be turquoise, and clearly it's not; Wings had planned to use the last cab in that parcel of natural Fox turquoise, but as he went to set it, one end fractured across matrix lines. It happens. The very thing that makes a cab more valuable [being untreated] also leaves it more fragile, and while he contemplated mending it with ground turquoise, he decided against it. He'll do some lapidary work on it and use it, in what will be slightly smaller form, in something else.

Meanwhile, as it turned out, he had this extraordinary domed oval of South African verdite that was exactly the right size and shape. I can't help thinking that this is what Spirit intended for it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It's three strands of heavy-gauge sterling silver pattern wire fused at the ends and spread gently apart at the top. There are tiny ingot overlays on the ends, and gorgeous hammered hearts overlaid along the sides, very subtle and elegant. I think when he created the stampwork on the top, echoing that which he's been using in some of his celestial-identified concha earring pairs lately, he had orbital motion in mind, but now? Now, it looks to me like Turtle's shell, nested scales and that amazing stone:

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Verdite comes form South Africa, and it's known colloquially as African jade. It's not jade, of course; it's not even a mineral. It's a rock. A rock with mineral inclusions, but a rock all the same, and look at how gorgeous it is. The greens come from fuchsite and sometimes forms of chromite included into it, and this one is a deep, rich forest green, marbled and veined with faint hints of gray and ivory and even brick. It's deep, mysterious, earthy, and magical. The cuff as a whole is called [as, frankly, befits Turtle's generous spirit] For Love of the Earth, and you can read its full description here. [Note that the band is design for a slightly smaller wrist; it will fit 6" to 7" wrists best.]

Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's now almost summer in this no-longer-new calendar year and facing complications and costs, some carried over from the end of last year, some all new, that have completely wiped us out. We need to make consistent sales urgently, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.