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I've been hard at work on some new ear weight styles to debut at this year's Association of Professional Piercers conference, and I am pleased to introduce Iona (E-Oh-Nah).
It's safe to say that Onetribe would not be the company that it is today without our wood production. From my initial domestic production of wood basics, to being one of the first companies to start making our overseas produced ornately carved styles in the same safe woods we used in our domestic workshop, to our innovative and elaborate mixed media projects, wood has been a staple at this company for almost 15 years.
Just as our world is constantly growing and changing, so is any small business, and the time has come to say farewell to wood. Our wood workshop employee James Ginnell, who's been with us for years, will be leaving our wood shop soon and that leaves me with a decision to make.
I've realized during my 14 years working in natural body jewelry that many stones that I and my customers love are not often collected. Unlike the crystals popular with collectors, most agates, jaspers, jades, and others stones form in erratic sizes and tend to show their beauty only when opened to reveal the natural colors and patterns hidden within. For this reason, I have created a unique new way to collect stone specimens: Specimen Coins.
Inspired by my love for ethnobotany, the study of the human relationship with plants, the Somnia ear weights are a tribute to the history of Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy. This controversial plant has seen ancient ritual and medicinal use, been used as the economic basis for war and the addiction and enslavement of an entire country, and most recently has provided medical science with the single known natural source for lifesaving opiate medications. Follow the story of this beautiful flower from ancient use to the inspiration for our new Somnia ear weights.
Three pairs of bronze ear weights with select cuts of "Red Creek Jasper" reminiscent of the surface of Jupiter's moon "Europa." I've been working on this weight design concept for well over a year now, and I'm thrilled to finally make them available in their full size glory (I previously released several half-sized test pieces). Europa represents the first limited quantity run in a continuing release schedule of unique stones set in these beautiful bronze ear weights.
