Raetih Earrings

Raetih Earrings take their name from the lunar tradition — the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian understanding that the moon’s cycle is the measure of all time. In Egyptian cosmology, the moon was the left eye of Horus, wounded and restored each month as the phases waxed and waned.

Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing, was the keeper of the lunar calendar: he measured time by the moon’s cycle and understood that the four phases — new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter — were not merely astronomical events but four distinct qualities of presence.

As a result, the lunar calendar governed religious festivals, agricultural cycles, and the administration of the kingdom. Furthermore, in Mesopotamian tradition, Sin — the Sumerian god of the moon, father of the sun god Shamash — was one of the most revered deities in the Babylonian pantheon: the lord of time and the measurer of the months, whose crescent was the sacred emblem of divine authority.

The Raetih Earrings carry the four phases of that lunar cycle: four volute drops, each one a different turning of the moon, each one set with a gemstone that reads as the moon’s concentrated light at that phase.

The Design of the Raetih Earrings

The Raetih Earrings translate the four lunar phases into 18k gold. Each piece is a set of four volute drops — curved forms that describe the turning of the moon at its four quarters: the crescent of the new moon, the arc of the first quarter, the fullness of the full moon, and the final arc of the waning last quarter.

Each volute holds a gemstone: a ruby, sapphire, or diamond that reads as the concentrated light of the moon at that phase. As a result, each Raetih earring carries the complete cycle of the moon in a single drop.

The Four Phases

The four volutes and their gemstones are the soul of this design. Specifically, each volute has a different curvature that describes its phase: tighter and more closed for the crescent, more open and assertive for the full moon forms.

Worn as drops, the Raetih Earrings descend from the ear with the quiet authority of a calendar written in gold. Furthermore, each gemstone within its volute catches the light at the angle appropriate to its phase, so the earring seems to carry its own internal rhythm of light and shadow.

In this way, the Raetih Earrings carry the quality of the lunar calendar: the same cycle, always different, always returning.

Raetih Earrings in 18k Gold and Coloured Stones

In rose gold the four volutes glow with warmth, each set with a ruby that burns with the concentrated red of moonrise in a warm sky. In white gold the Raetih Earrings turn cool and lunar, the volutes reading with the silver clarity of the moon itself, a sapphire in each phase.

In yellow gold they radiate with full golden intensity, brilliant diamonds in each volute — the moon at its fullest, its light as clear and white as it can be.

Whichever stone you choose, the four phases hold their cycle.

Craftsmanship and 3D Precision

Each Raetih earring was developed in 3D modeling software and brought to life through precision 3D printing and meticulous hand-finishing. The four-volute form demands digital modeling: each volute must have the correct curvature for its phase, each gemstone setting must hold the stone at exactly the right position within the curve, and the overall drop must hang in balanced sequence.

Hand-finishing polishes every surface to a high shine. This is the precision that only the Friszman MD process can deliver reliably.

A Made-to-Order Piece

Like every Friszman MD creation, the Raetih Earrings is made to order and hand-finished in 18k gold. Explore the full earrings collection to see how each design draws its form from the world’s great traditions. You can also explore the lunar traditions of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in the collections of the Library of Congress.