There's a flower that grows where no one plants it - field edges, footpaths, the forgotten patches of hillside that nothing else seems to want. The blackjack flower. Small white petals gathered around a yellow centre, common enough that most people call it a weed and keep walking. Its seeds are what people usually remember it for, the ones that cling to socks and sleeves on every walk through tall grass, not the flower itself. Dearly known as 'Chirchitta' in hindi.
These earrings hold the part everyone else overlooks.
Blackjack petals are small and thin-boned, which makes them dry quickly but tear just as quickly if handled a moment too roughly. Each bloom is picked right as it opens, pressed with care, and left to dry slowly so the thin petals hold their shape instead of curling into themselves. Only once they're fully set can the sculpting into a hoop begin.
From hillside to finished earring: the better part of a season.
The hardest part was building two frames that could each hold a different amount of the same plant. Every brass frame was hand-hammered into its own asymmetric shape - no two alike, since the flower dictates the frame and not the other way around.
Inside, the resin was poured layer by layer, left to cure between pours, so the stems stayed anchored in place instead of drifting as the resin settled, and so the second, smaller flower head on the longer stem didn't get lost under too much depth. Getting the proportions right, enough resin to protect something this delicate, without burying either bloom took several attempts before the pair felt balanced. What you're looking at now is the pair that held.
Preserved botanical: Blackjack Flower — Gathered from the forested hillsides of Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Material details:
- Pressed flowers/petals
- 24K Gold Plated Brass
Dimensions: Total Length: 5cm and 6.5cm (approx.)
What does 'RARE' mean? : Refer to the 'About the Products' section in the FAQs
NOTE : Each piece carries the natural character of the botanical it was born from. Minor colour variations and micro-imperfections are not flaws; they are signatures of authenticity. Please review all photos carefully before ordering.
Grown over seasons. Made over moons. Yours for years.