The Story

Mother-of-pearl is the material that first made us want to design jewellery. It is the same substance a mollusc builds inside its shell, laid down in thousands of microscopic plates that refract light into the faintest rainbow.

Each Astra stud holds a 10 mm disc of it, cut from a single piece of shell rather than reconstituted powder, and framed in a slim rim of 18K gold vermeil. The frame is deliberately narrow, because the point of this earring is the iridescence, not the metalwork around it — you should notice the shifting pink and blue in the nacre before you notice the gold.

The name comes from the single tiny stone set at the top edge of each disc. It is a small fixed point of light above a soft, moving one: the same idea as the Astra pendant, and the reason the two pieces were designed together.

Design & Craftsmanship

The disc is hand-lapped to a flatness of a few microns so it sits perfectly level in its frame, then seated by burnishing — the gold rim is pushed gently over the edge of the shell until it holds. No adhesive is used anywhere in this earring, because adhesive yellows over time and mother-of-pearl is translucent enough to show it.

Beneath the gold, the finding is recycled 925 sterling silver plated in a generous 2.5-micron layer of 18K gold — roughly five times the thickness of standard fashion plating. That depth is what allows a vermeil earring to be worn daily for years rather than seasons. The post is set slightly high on the disc so the stud sits flat against the lobe instead of tipping forward, and the butterfly back is the same gold tone as the front, which matters more than it sounds when someone is standing behind you.

Because mother-of-pearl is a natural material, no two discs are identical. Yours will have its own balance of pink, green and blue, and its own pattern of clouding. We sort the discs by hand so that a matched pair reads as a pair — same depth of lustre, same overall tone — without pretending nature made them identical.

How to Wear It

Astra is the stud you reach for when you want to look finished without looking decorated. It is small enough to disappear into an ear stack and calm enough to carry a whole outfit on its own, which is a rarer combination than it sounds.

Wear it as the base of a stack with a huggie below and a tiny flat-back stud above, or wear it alone with hair tucked back. Against cream, white and black it reads almost as light rather than as jewellery; against warm skin the gold rim does most of the work. It is also the piece we most often see bought as a gift, because it suits every age and every wardrobe without asking anything of the person wearing it.

Why You'll Love It

• Genuine 10 mm mother-of-pearl disc, cut from a single piece of shell and hand-lapped flat.
• Slim 18K yellow gold vermeil rim, burnished closed — set without adhesive, so it will never yellow or cloud.
• 2.5-micron 18K gold over recycled 925 sterling silver, five times the standard plating thickness.
• Small bezel-set lab-grown white sapphire at the top edge as a fixed point of light.
• Post positioned high on the disc so the stud sits flat and does not tip forward.
• No two discs are identical — your pair has its own nacre pattern and its own balance of colour.
• Nickel-free, lead-free and hypoallergenic, with matching gold-tone butterfly backs.

Care

Mother-of-pearl is soft and porous, and it is the one material in this collection that cannot be corrected once damaged. Put your studs in after perfume, hairspray and moisturiser, and take them out before bathing, swimming and sleep. Wipe the disc with a dry, soft cloth after wear — never a wet one, and never a chemical cleaner, because nacre dissolves in acid.

Store the pair flat in the pouch so the posts cannot scratch the shell of the opposite earring, and keep the backs together in the same pouch so they do not go missing.

Shipping & Returns

Made to order and dispatched in 3–5 business days, fully insured. Every order travels in protective, plastic-free packaging and arrives in a VERQALOT box with a soft pouch and a polishing cloth. Returns and exchanges are accepted within 30 days on unworn pieces, and earrings are covered by our two-year craftsmanship warranty.