S925 Silver Seven Grain Rice Auspicious Cloud Earrings

Seven grains of rice means seven raised forms the size of rice grains set in a row, with an auspicious cloud pressed beneath. The grains have to be the same size to look right; one bigger and one smaller and the maker's hand wasn't steady. Roundness matters the same way: round from the front and still round from the side, because flatten one and it becomes a melon seed. The cloud supports them from below, its heads curling out to either side and gathering the row together, otherwise seven dots lie scattered like spilled sesame. The studs sit close to the ear and the relief is low, so they don't look thick on the lobe.

Cloud patterns appear on Shang and Zhou bronzes, where they were called cloud-thunder motifs — angular, revolving, filling the ground of a vessel. Over the centuries they rounded out, settling in the Ming and Qing into the ruyi cloud with three heads curled together, which became the commonest auspicious ground pattern. After the mid-Qing the clouds grew more formulaic, stacked in neat layers: handsome, and a little less alive. Folk usage links clouds with the phrase about rising to the blue clouds, or simply takes the word ruyi, as one wishes. The same cloud means whatever the occasion needs. On a pair of studs, it is a good-looking ground.

S925's base tone is cool. Finished matte white, the raised grains keep a thin bright outline at the edge; finished bright, the whole stud becomes a disc of reflection and the seven grains disappear into it. Post thickness matters too. Too thick and it swells the piercing; too thin and the stud sags as the day goes on. The post is soldered slightly above centre on the back so the balance holds. Otherwise the stud tips forward, face down, and all the work is wasted.

A close-fitting stud doesn't swing, which makes it unobtrusive for work, and that is its advantage. The row of seven is fairly wide, though, so on a small lobe it will press against the rim of the ear; measure the width of your lobe before choosing. With short hair or a habitual ponytail the studs are on show and the front work is visible. With long hair half covering them, weaker work won't show at all, so choose on the design rather than obsessing over the detail. If your piercing is set high, a horizontal design like this will press the grains against cartilage and ache by the end of the day.

The post is the part that bends most easily. When removing them, hold the base and pull outward; don't grip the front and tug, or the post bends, and straightening a bent post loosens it at the root. Silver posts darken with wear. That is oxidation, and it is also the secretions of the piercing, and a silver cloth is enough for both. Don't keep going over them with alcohol swabs. Alcohol makes silver darken faster, and it dries the skin around the piercing as well.