Tiny treasures shaped by the sea, the Tyrian Tide Earrings pair natural murex shells with warm gold for an easy little piece of maritime drama. Each shell carries its own sculpted ridges, whorls, and warm brown markings, making the pair naturally individual rather than perfectly identical.
Murex shells also carry an extraordinary place in human history. Certain Mediterranean species were once the source of Tyrian purple, the precious dye produced by Phoenician workshops and later prized throughout the Roman world, where purple became closely associated with rank and imperial power. The dye required enormous quantities of shellfish and painstaking production, helping make true purple one of antiquity's great luxuries.
Suspended from sweeping 18kt gold-plated brass earwires, these little shells feel somewhere between archaeological curiosity and something picked up barefoot at the water's edge.
Details
Natural murex shells
Naturally occurring variation in color, pattern, shape, and texture
