• Handmade green beetle wing earrings on bronze chains, displayed on a stone sculpture
  • Handmade earrings with crescent moons and iridescent beetle wings on chain, displayed on stone sculpture
  • Iridescent green beetle wing dangle earrings with crescent moon charms on a wooden surface.
  • Iridescent beetle wing dangle earrings with bronze hooks on rustic wood background
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Jewel Beetle Earrings | Real Wings, Structural Color

$27.99
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Description

Description
Genuine jewel beetle wing cases on copper chains. The green is not a pigment and it will not fade, which is the whole reason these have been used in adornment for centuries.

The color is structural. The wing case is built of stacked layers of chitin at thicknesses tuned to the wavelength of visible light, so what you see is light interfering with itself rather than a dye absorbing it. Nothing bleaches, because there is nothing in there to bleach. Beetlewing work turns up in Indian and Thai embroidery, on court textiles, and famously on the dress Ellen Terry wore as Lady Macbeth in 1888, which still has its beetle wings today.

Beetles are read for persistence and for rebirth, which is the scarab lineage. What the material actually demonstrates is a narrower idea and a better one: some things keep their color because of how they are built rather than what they are coated in.

Why Copper
Copper is the third most abundant trace mineral in the human body, and its name runs straight back to Cyprus: the Romans called it cyprium, metal of Cyprus, which is also the island Aphrodite came ashore on. That is where the Venus association comes from, and it is a better reason than most. It is also the second best electrical conductor there is, after silver.

How to Wear It

  • Light for the size. They move constantly, which is most of the effect.
  • The wing cases are hard but they are thin. Store them hanging.
  • Nothing about the color will fade, so wear them in sun without worrying.

Wear It With
See the Butterfly Moon 14k earrings and browse earrings.

Ethically sourced jewel beetle wing cases on copper. Natural material, so size and color vary from pair to pair.

Made Here, by Hand
Wild Raven pieces are made one at a time in the shop in Terrell, Texas, and no two come out the same. Every piece is cleared with Reiki before it leaves and arrives ready for you to set your own intention. More about the shop and the people in it, and about what Reiki actually is.