Copper Yujian'er Talisman Script S925 Silver Pin Earrings

Stack the three elements yu, jian and er vertically and you have nian, a rare character pronounced jian. An old text has the line: when a person dies they become a ghost, when a ghost dies it becomes a nian, and ghosts see a nian the way people see a ghost. Folk practice therefore treats the character as a ward, writing it on doors and cutting it into plaques, in the hope that unclean things will keep their distance. The character is hard to find in a dictionary, and many people first meet it on a talisman. It also appears as a door charm fixed above the frame, always written vertically.

The stud pairs a brass face with an S925 sterling silver post. The silver post is the reason sensitive skin can generally wear it. The brass face is antiqued and the cuts filled black, the three elements stacked from top to bottom with the lowest drawn narrowest, so the whole piece is wide at the top and tapers to a point. A small seat is soldered to the back and the post rises from its centre, so the stud sits straight. The face is round with a small rim, which makes it look like a little copper coin.

The silver and gold versions differ at the surface. The silver is white copper in its natural cool tone; the gold is plated and runs warmer. On a small piece like a stud the plating wears quickly, especially on the side a fingernail catches when you take it off. S925 means 92.5 percent silver, with most of the rest copper, which lifts the hardness above fine silver and keeps the post from bending. Let a piercing heal before wearing these. Do not change earrings in a fresh piercing; the brass face is heavier than the post and will drag.

The stud is small and sits at the centre of the lobe. It reads clean with short hair and disappears under long hair. Worn one on each side the balance is even; wear one alone and put the other away carefully, because the post is fine and once bent it is hard to straighten. Choose silicone backs: metal backs grip hard and over time press a mark into the post. The weight should match on both sides, since one heavy and one light will pull a piercing out of line over months. Keep them in a small box when not worn, the two separated so the points do not knock together.

Silver posts tarnish. That is normal for silver and not dirt. A silver polishing cloth on the post is enough, and keep it off the brass face, where the black is deliberate. Take them off to shower, since what is in shampoo dulls silver faster. Store the pair separately, because points knocking together blunt. Once a post has darkened, do not reach for toothpaste: the abrasive in it will wear the post thinner.