S925 Silver Zhakila Dzi Bead Earrings

In Tibetan folk belief Zhakila is a female protector, and is often treated as a wealth deity as well. Her face is not one to trifle with: a dark face, the tongue out, a crown on the head, nothing like the smiling wealth gods of China proper. There are several accounts of where she comes from, and they do not agree with one another; I will not settle it here, only describe the image. Tibet has more than one wealth deity — Yellow Jambhala and White Jambhala each have their own form — and Zhakila is one of the few shown as a woman.

These earrings borrow the pattern language of the dzi bead. In Tibet the dzi is a bead strung among prayer beads, its patterns mostly eyes and bands, with talk of one-eyed through nine-eyed beads, the more eyes the rarer. The earrings take that rhythm of horizontal layers and replace the white lines of the bead with raised silver, stacked one course on another. The eye motif is a series of concentric rings, the band motif a run of horizontals, and set beside each other the two produce the rhythm. The raised silver lines are finer than the bead's white lines; made wide, they turn into hoops.

Earrings are a different problem from pendants, and here weight comes first. A lobe cannot carry a large piece — half a day and it drags, and the hole stretches. The size here is held within what a lobe can bear, and the drop reaches about the jawline, so it swings gently when you turn your head without hitting the neck. The opening of the hook has to match the thickness of the lobe: too tight and it will not go through, too loose and it slips after two steps. The hook wire needs to be thick enough; thin, it bends within two wearings.

With clothes, dark is the steadiest choice. Black, dark brown, navy all hold the silver's brightness; against pale clothing silver looks weightless. With the hair up they show completely, with it down only half, and each has its own look. Worn as a pair they are complete; a single one works too, with the other kept to pair with a different stud. The one thing to avoid in earrings is an imbalance in weight — one side swinging hard as you walk.

Silver earrings fear sweat and water above all else. Take them off before a shower, dry the hooks before putting them back, and the holes are less likely to get inflamed. When the silver blackens, pinch it in a silver cloth; do not force the hook, because once that curve deforms it is awkward to wear. The section of the hook that touches the hole: the more highly polished it is, the less it chafes.