The butterflies come to us through US based bug brokers, who in turn get them from farms, mostly in South America. Have you ever been to one of the butterfly houses in the US where a real butterfly might sit on you? These places do not have their own breeding programs, but rather contract this out to farms in the Amazon jungles and such. That's where these butterflies come from. Did you know that the average lifespan of a butterfly is only about twenty days? The butterflies used in our jewelry are "end of life" butterflies - those that have completed their natural life cycle.
In this piece we present a whole wing from a blue morpho (from Peru). First, I excised only the wings, so there are no body parts present. Then, using our proprietary process, I applied multiple coats of resin to both sides. You will note from the photos that the butterfly is reversible - because of the way they camouflage themselves in nature, they look different from the other side (when they close their wings on landing).
Please note that our wings are NOT framed in any metal - what you see as an edge around the wing is the clear resin. There is no metal around it, and it's not between two sheets of glass. It's clear resin, that makes it much lighter, and not subject to damage from moisture, like the ones between sheets of glass.
Please note that these are notoriously difficult to photograph, because of their amazing shimmer. The actual color/shade/hue will vary from what you see on the screen, depending on light conditions, the angle, etc. Each pair is slightly different from another, but the pair themselves are always an exact match, coming from the same butterfly.
The wing is attached to a sterling silver bail (snap-on type), and shown on a steel wire choker. the silver color is shown, but I also have these in copper and black finish, just let me know if you'd prefer one of those instead. When you wear the pendant the oterh way, you get to show the "owl eye" brown camouflage side (close up shown in the 4th photo). A very cool look!
Ships in a white chiffon bag ready for gift giving, and a card explaining about the source of the butterflies as well as the recycled saris.
Why wear fake jewelry?
Ships ready for gift giving, in a small chiffon drawstring bag, with a small card including rubber ear nuts for securing the earwires in your ear, and a card with a little write-up about the butterfly, and explaining how to reverse the wire on the other side.