Double Thorn Earring (L) #4 | STRUGA

A mono earring for one ear: two cast torpedoes on a single axis, joined by a short bar, 7.0 grams of 925 sterling silver together, $217. The surface is black oxidation — the silver was darkened at the bench, so the object is dark from day one. Each torpedo holds its own raw tourmaline, one raspberry-pink and one pale olive-green. One of one, sold.

Two halves of a torpedo lie on one line, tail to tail, joined by a straight bar — and that bar is what passes through the piercing, so one torpedo sits in front of the lobe and the other behind it. Each is split lengthwise on the diagonal, and a long crystal stands in the opening: in one torpedo a raspberry-pink tourmaline with lengthwise striations along the prism, in the other a pale olive-green stone that lets the light through at its tip. A short spike stands at the base of each torpedo. The cast surface is grainy rather than polished: the recesses hold a dense black while the raised ribs and the spikes carry a lighter grey — that is the trace of hand finishing, and on another earring it would fall differently.

Double Thorn (L) #4 — a THORN Amulet, a type within the AMULET family, in the RITUAL world. Model Thorn / E-0528, article E-0501-L. Mono earring for one ear: two cast silver torpedoes on a single axis, each split lengthwise and holding its own rough, uncut tourmaline. 925 sterling silver, 7.0 g, surface — black oxidation. The darkness here is a technique, not metal that tarnished with time: the recesses hold the black, the raised ribs lighten with friction, and the contrast deepens as the piece is worn. Care: warm water, mild soap, a soft brush in the relief, dried thoroughly. Silver-cleaning solutions, ultrasonic baths and chlorine strip the oxidation — do not use them.

How this piece differs from the other Double Thorns

The Double Thorn model was made in four pieces. They diverge in two things: how much silver ends up on the ear, and how the surface was made. The table is built from the catalogue.

Read the table down the weight column. This piece is the (L) format: 7.0 grams, three times heavier than the small one, a visible and substantial object on the ear. The (S) format is 2.3 grams, two short torpedoes that barely pull on the lobe. The second difference is the surface: three pieces were darkened at the bench, while #3 was made in a Living Silver finish, which goes dark on its own, from air and skin. Within the large format, #2, #3 and #4 match in weight and price, so the choice between them is a choice of surface and of stones. In #4 the pair is raspberry-pink and pale olive-green; all four earrings are single pieces, and no two carry the same tourmalines. The whole line stands together in the Double Thorn collection.

Who it is for and when to wear it

This is an object read at close range. The bar passes straight through the lobe, so the earring is seen from both sides: in front, one torpedo stands along the line of the ear; behind, the second goes back past it, and in profile the piece gathers into a single straight line. On the ear it stays compact and holds to the lobe rather than hanging below it — what carries first is the black, and then the one point of raspberry-pink in the opening. 7.0 grams is a weight the lobe registers without being dragged by it: a substantial object rather than a weightless detail, and it can be worn all day. The dark surface stays quiet against light clothing and comes forward against dark, so it works through a working day and through the night. It is worn alone, with the second ear left empty, or alongside another STRUGA earring — the asymmetry is part of the intent. As a gift it lands with someone who values singularity: wild-growth stones do not repeat, and a second earring like this cannot be assembled.

AMULET is the family this piece belongs to, and the THORN Amulet is its most expressive type: a halved-torpedo form, as if dug out of the ground thousands of years later, with a crystal grown inside; an homage to Daniel Arsham. Here there are two such forms, on one axis, in the large format. The stone is material, geology and the form of the object; STRUGA promises no effect from it.

How it is made: the form is modelled first — in 3D or by hand in wax. A silicone form is taken from the wax model and 925 silver is cast into it. The finished earring is worked by hand by a master silversmith, the surface is darkened, and the stones are set in place. Handmade in Bali.