Wampum & Sterling 6x4mm post/stud earrings. #Martha's buy Vineyard #MV #aquinah #newengland #Quahog shell

Wampum & Sterling Earrings. Handcrafted on Martha's Vineyard. 6x8mm ovals set in sterling silver bezels.

Wampum varies since it is a natural material sometimes it is really dark and sometimes it can be light and pinstriped. The earrings you will receive is the one pictured in the first 2 photos of the listing. As I sell these earrings and I create new ones I will only change the 1st 2 pictures so you know what you are getting in terms of the coloring and pattern.

WAMPUM
Type of Clam, Quahog (Ko-Hog) shell. Used by buy the Wampanoag Indians, natives of Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. It was their medium of exchange as well as a symbol of wealth, power, and prestige. Possession of wampum was believed to have deep spiritual significance. In writings of the early 1700s, Wampum was mostly referred to as the cylindrical beads, but later the term came to be attached to other forms of shell adornments like cut slab shapes used in jewelry and hair accessories. Our jewelry is mostly made with these cut slabs either riveted together or set in bezel cups like a semi-precious stone. We also use some beads as accent parts in our jewelry and often combine the wampum with other shells, coral, pearls, native rocks from our local beaches, semi-precious as well as gem-quality stones. Today some local residents refer to the wampum as the diamond of the Vineyard.