Journey Square onyx vermeil earrings

Description

Vermeil on silver and onyx

British Museum Hajj selection, 2012

These striking earrings are a symbolic interpretation of the Ka’aba when viewed from above during Hajj. The square onyx represents the Ka’aba at the centre of the surrounding crowd of pilgrims. The designer’s own handwritten Arabic calligraphy impression reads: Mikat, Mecca, Mina, Plain of Arafat, Muzdalifa, Plain of Mina, and Mecca again, the seven stopping locations for a pilgrim on Hajj.

Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony (a form of quartz) and comes in a wide variety of colors. Most commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of both black and white, though the word “onyx” means black and the pieces in these earrings are in the traditional black. In modern times, gold is mined all over the world, but in the old days, much of it was mined from what is now Saudi Arabia. Gold often symbolizes power, strength, wealth, warmth, happiness, love, hope, optimism, intelligence, justice, balance, perfection, and divinity.