Meena Naqsh - Turquoise and Ruby Silver Earrings

From the Jahan collection by Orah Jewels and Crafts, Meena Naqsh is a pair of silver earrings set with turquoise and ruby, a pairing of cool blue and deep red drawn from the same tile palette that colors the Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, built between 1644 and 1647 and still holding the most elaborate glazed tile work in the subcontinent.

The turquoise in Meena Naqsh is sourced from Iran, from the Neyshabur mines in Khorasan province that have supplied the world's most prized turquoise for over two thousand years, its sky blue color produced by copper bound into the stone's structure. Persian turquoise reached Sindh along the same trade routes that carried Kashani tile craftsmen to Thatta, connecting the stone in this pair of earrings to the mosque that inspired the wider Jahan collection.

Set against the turquoise is ruby from Afghanistan, corundum colored red by trace chromium locked into the crystal at formation, the same element responsible for both its color and the way fine ruby appears to glow under direct light. Afghan ruby, drawn largely from deposits in the Badakhshan region, supplied South Asian courts through the Mughal era, when Shah Jahan's own treasury is recorded to have prized ruby from Central Asia and Afghanistan above most other stones.

Meena Naqsh sets the two stones at 2.7 inches, giving each material enough surface to read clearly rather than compressing them into a single blur of color. The contrast is deliberate, blue against red, cool against warm, in a drop long enough to move with the wearer without overwhelming the ear. Made in Lahore at the Orah Jewels and Crafts facility. One pair.

Stones: Natural Turquoise (Iran) and Ruby (Afghanistan)
Metal: Sterling Silver
Size: 2.7 Inches
Weight: 8.15 g