Nested Teardrop Chandelier Earrings with Tourmaline

• Cascading multi-tier teardrop design
• Bezel-set round tourmalines in mixed colors
• Post-and-butterfly closure
• Lightweight open wirework

Tourmaline is a natural stone, so color, tone and placement shift slightly from one pair to the next.

The construction is a technique common to brass jewelry workshops across India: fine wire is shaped into open teardrop forms, nested one inside the other, then linked so the piece moves with the smallest turn of the head. The layered teardrop, rather than a solid drop, is a deliberate choice — it keeps the earring light while still reading as a full chandelier from across a room.

Each loop holds a single bezel-set tourmaline, where a thin metal collar is burnished around the stone's girdle to hold it without prongs. It is a simple, durable setting that protects the stone's edges and lets color carry the piece without competing metalwork.

Mixing several tourmaline colors, rather than matching stones, is typical of how these workshops work with natural gemstone lots. Cutters sort rough tourmaline by size and shape more than by exact shade, so a cascading design like this is built stone by stone to make the most of what a batch of rough yields.

• Technique: Hand-fabricated brass wirework with bezel-set gemstones

Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth and keep away from moisture and perfume to protect the gold plating.