Earrings with amethysts and pearls

The earrings’ amethysts are surrounded by lots of small oriental pearls. Oriental pearls are harvested from salty, warm seas and have a glossy, oily surface. A pearl is created when a foreign particle penetrates a mollusc’s shell. As an act of self-defence, the mollusc creates a membrane of pearl. The process takes several years.

The pendant earrings were bought at the same time as the garniture’s brooch.