Sola Hoop Earrings

The Story

The Sola Hoops are inspired by the sun, a celestial body worshipped in many ancient cultures, including pre-Hispanic Philippines.

In Visayan mythology, the sun is actually the golden god Liadlaw, the second son of Lidagat, goddess of the sea, and Lihangin, god of the winds. Being the second son, he was always distracted. When he and his brothers stormed Kaptan’s heavenly realm, he was struck down by lightning, which melted his body. Kaptan grew remorseful of his actions so he molded Liadlaw’s body into the sun, giving it a heavenly light and returning the god’s spirit. As punishment, Liadlaw was made to forever travel along one route in the sky to keep him focused, without his brothers by his side.

Artist Notes: This is the story that inspired the very first piece I created for Una Artesana, the Sola Hoops. The hoops feature a gradient of warm colors starting with red, and turning to yellow points to depict the rays of the sun, a prominent motif in precolonial jewelry.

The original Solas were woven with opaque beads on a wireframe hoop. I loved how vibrant the beads were, but it didn’t match the rest of the collection, which was shimmery and translucent. So when I decided to upgrade to lever back hoops, I also upgraded to silver-lined and iridescent beads for a more celestial vibe.

Size: 30 mm hoop diameter.

Materials: Glass seed beads, beading thread, gold-tone stainless steel lever-back hoops. Stainless steel findings make these safe for sensitive ears.

Preorder. All pieces are made by hand, please allow up to 2 to 4 weeks for production for preorder items.