Star of the Winds - the new capsule collection
{English post. Clicca qui per leggere il post in ITALIANO}
Today for PetiteFraise is an important day: after a long gestation (more than two years!), a new small (for now) collection comes to life!
Since the theme that inspired me for these jewellery pieces is very dear to me, I really wanted to give it all the time and care that it needed. It happens often to me, needing a lot of time to bring some pieces to life: but until now, it was always worth it.
STAR OF THE WINDS
The new capsule collection is inspired by the Northern Star + the Compass Rose, also known as windrose or rose of the winds. From here, the name: Star of the Winds. A combination of the symbol of the Compass Rose with 8 points, associated to sailing and navigation, and the Pole Star, which with her light would help seamen to locate the North and to orient themselves.
To help you understand better my inspirations, here below you can find a brief explanation of the Compass Rose and of the Pole Star, that I put together thank to Wikipedia.
What’s the Compass Rose?
From Wikipedia: “A compass rose, sometimes called a windrose or rose of the winds, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their intermediate points. It is also the term for the graduated markings found on the traditional magnetic compass. Today, a form of compass rose is found on, or featured in, almost all navigation systems.
[...] The modern compass rose has eight principal winds. Although modern compasses use the names of the eight principal directions (N, NE, E, SE, etc.), older compasses use the traditional Italianate wind names of Medieval origin (Tramontana, Greco, Levante, etc.)”
Speaking of the Northern Star, or Polaris: “Because Polaris lies nearly in a direct line with the Earth's rotational axis "above" the North Pole—the north celestial pole—Polaris stands almost motionless in the sky, and all the stars of the northern sky appear to rotate around it. Therefore, it makes an excellent fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation and for astrometry. [...] As one of the brighter stars close to the celestial pole, Polaris was used for navigation at least from late antiquity, and described as "always visible" by Stobaeus (5th century), and it could reasonably be described as stella polaris from about the High Middle Ages.
[...] The modern name Polaris is shortened from New Latin stella polaris "polar star", coined in the Renaissance era, when the star had approached the celestial pole to within a few degrees.
[...] In the later medieval period, it became associated with the Marian title of Stella Maris "Star of the Sea". An older English name, attested since the 14th century, is lodestar "guiding star", cognate from the Old Norse” (From Wikipedia)
Image of a vintage illustration owned by Agence Eureka, found on Flickr
And that’s why for my Star of the Winds collection I wanted to gather the themes of travel, of exploration and adventure, always dear to me since I was a child. The Compass, a tool that is the symbol of the traveler. The wind, a restlessness pushing you to move, to discover wonders always new. The stars, whose light always draws my gaze to the night sky (exactly as the Moon does!), used by travelers since ancient times to orient themeselves.
This jewellery line is for you, wandering and restless soul, always dreaming of the next destination, the next discovery. And I’m speaking not only about new places to go, but also new things to learn and to be passionate about.
The first pair of earrings I created more than two years ago was a single star earrings, with 8 points, in brass with tiny faceted pyrite stones. (below)
The single star post earrings in simple brass with pyrite beads
Then, last year, two new pairs of earrings were born! With double star and white labradorite drops, and with triple star and herkimer diamonds (herkimers are not actually diamonds, but double-terminated quartz crystals).
The double star and the three star earrings in 22kt gold plated brass
All three pairs are post earrings, with sterling silver pin and butterfly as closure.
The surface of the metal is worked in a way that the hammer signs on it are always different and unique.
On your lobes they’re even more beautiful… and brighter! ✨
Finally, the last born (last week!) is a medium/short length necklace with three stars, labradorite beads and a herkimer diamond.
As you can see, its lines are a little bit different than usual: I wanted it to fall in a “fluid” way, more elegant and unusual, as it was a boat cutting the waves, or the stars in a constellation that take their own place like in a choreography ✨
Three star constellation necklace, simple brass with labradorite and a herkimer diamond
All the pieces are available both in simple brass and in 22kt gold plated brass.
Find all of them in my shop here (with many more pictures, and modeled pictures too):
If you have any doubts or questions about the availability of every piece and the process time, feel free to contact me here on the website or write an email to petitefraise[at]live.it
