The Lucaniadae Cathedrale Pendant | One of a Kind Pendant | clear quartz | Regina

Will release on 26/27-09-26 to all visitors of the Duystere Markt Roeselare. Worldwide website release 28-09-26.

Handcrafted Gothic Cathedralcore Stag Beetle Pendant in Recycled Sterling Silver with Rose Cut Clear Quartz | One of a Kind

A stag beetle in recycled sterling silver, her wing cases worked with gothic window tracery, her body set with a rose cut clear quartz laid over a hand engraving. Look at her from a slightly different angle and the engraving underneath changes. One carries a hand-engraved starburst, the other a hand-engraved fleur de lis. Choose your variation in the options. There are two, and they will not be made again this way.

The Essence

Cathedral windows on her back.
Hand engraving under glass.
It never looks the same twice.

Inspiration & Story

The Lucanidae Cathedrale belongs to Regina, our cathedralcore collection: gothic architecture, arches, tracery and the particular grandeur of buildings designed to make you look up. She leans sideways into the Curiosity Cabinet for her natural history, and both readings are correct.

Lucanidae is the family of stag beetles, named for the antler-like mandibles the males carry. The real animal is worth knowing about. A stag beetle larva lives in dead and rotting wood for several years, chewing through the decay in the dark. Then it emerges as this armoured, antlered thing and lives, as an adult, for only a few weeks. Years underground for one short summer of flight. The males wrestle each other with those mandibles, levering rivals off branches, and cannot bite hard enough to hurt you. They are also in decline across Europe and protected under EU habitats law, which is its own quiet memento mori.

The architecture is where Regina takes over. Her elytra, the hardened wing cases, are worked with gothic window tracery: arched lights, mullions and a traced border, so the beetle's own segmentation reads as a row of cathedral windows. It is not decoration applied to a beetle. The panels were already the right shape.

Then the part that people actually stop over. Set into her body is a rose cut clear quartz, and underneath it, cut into the silver by hand, is an engraving. A starburst on one. A fleur de lis on the other. A rose cut has a flat back and a faceted dome on top, so light enters through the facets, passes down to the engraved silver beneath, and comes back up through a different facet than it went in by. Which means the engraving looks different every time you move. Tilt her and the starburst rays split and re-gather. Turn her and the fleur de lis sharpens, doubles, dissolves. There is no single correct view of it, and photographs cannot really hold it. You have to move it in your hand.

Setting rock crystal over something you want to protect is an old, old idea. Georgian and Victorian jewellers laid faceted or domed rock crystal over hairwork and miniatures in memorial pieces, using the stone as both lens and lid. We are doing the same thing with engraving instead of hair. That link to mourning jewelry is deliberate, and if you want the history behind it we wrote what memento mori actually means and we also do hairworks for the memorial jewelry. Everything is real recycled 925 sterling silver, no plating, no filled, no vermeil, which we explain properly in solid gold vs gold filled vs vermeil vs gold plated.

Perfect for lovers of cathedralcore and gothic architecture, stag beetle and entomology jewelry, hand engraving, rose cut stones, curiosity cabinets, natural history design and one of a kind sterling silver jewelry.

Creation Details

Jewelry Type: Pendant
Availability: One of a Kind
Collection: Regina, with Curiosity Cabinet natural history detailing
Brand: Atelier Wolfstone
Material: Recycled 925 Sterling Silver
Gemstone(s): Rose cut clear quartz, natural, laid over hand engraving. Starburst or fleur de lis depending on the variation you choose.

Weight: 9.85 g
Size: 45 x 13 mm including bail
Sizing: Fixed. These are finished creations and cannot be made in other dimensions.
Necklace: Not included. The standard price does not include a sterling silver necklace. This pendant comes with a faux leather cord, allowing for effortless styling. Many baddies already own silver chains that can be paired easily thanks to the integrated bail.
Personalisation: None. Choose the starburst or the fleur de lis above. Both are finished as shown.

Shipping Time: Ships within 5 working days

These are One of a Kind creations. There are two of them and they will not be made again in this form. Another beetle may appear one day, with a different engraving beneath a different stone, but not these.

Crafted using in-house digital and traditional techniques: 3D designing, 3D printing, casting, sawing, shaping, soldering, hand engraving, stone setting, blackening and polishing.

The engraving is cut into the silver by hand with a graver before the quartz goes over it, which means it has to be right first time. There is no undoing a cut line and no adjusting it once the stone is set. The tracery on the wing cases is blackened into its recesses and polished back across the raised surfaces, and at 9.85 g she has real weight in the hand.

Style & Wear

A statement specimen for cathedralcore, gothic architecture and entomology baddies.

At 45 x 13 mm she is long and narrow, so she reads as a vertical line rather than a mass, which is unusual for a pendant with this much weight to it. She lengthens a neckline instead of filling it and sits well under a collar, though she deserves better than being hidden. Give her a chain with some body to it: at 9.85 g she will overpower a fine one.

She wants moving light. Candlelight, low sun, a window seat, anywhere the quartz has something to bend. Under flat overhead lighting she is beautiful and slightly asleep.

Perfect for a market you got dressed up for, a museum you lost four hours in, the person with a beetle under glass on the shelf, and any evening that calls for wearing a small piece of architecture.

Practical Notes

• Pendant only, faux leather cord or sterling silver chain necklace optional.
• Sterling silver chains can be purchased separately.
• Images are unedited and photographed in a light box and only lightly enhanced to adjust the lighting.
• Model pictures can be edited.
• Colors may vary slightly in real life.
• 6 months warranty starting from the day of delivery.
• Warranty covers defects in workmanship.
• This warranty is in addition to your statutory rights under EU consumer law.
• Always check gemstone hardness and physical properties to see if this gemstone suits you.
• Prices include 21 percent VAT.

Safety, Care & Documentation

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For warranty details, safe usage, sizing guidance and care instructions, visit our More page or our FAQ page. Each order includes a jewelry upkeep document so your creation can last for ages.

Questions & Answers

There are two pendants here. Which one am I buying?
Whichever variation you select in the options above. One has a hand-engraved starburst under the quartz, the other a hand-engraved fleur de lis. They are two separate creations and each can only be bought once.

Why does the engraving change when I move it?
Because of how a rose cut works. A rose cut has a flat back and a domed, faceted top, so light enters through one facet, travels down to the engraved silver underneath, and comes back out through a different one. Move your hand and the path changes, so the engraving splits, doubles, sharpens or softens. There is no single fixed view of it.

What is a rose cut?
An old cutting style with a flat base and a faceted dome on top, used long before modern machinery. It gives a soft, watery glow with visible depth rather than sharp modern fire, and because it is flat-backed it can sit directly over something, which is what makes this piece work.

Is putting a stone over an engraving a traditional technique?
Yes. Georgian and Victorian jewellers set faceted or domed rock crystal over hairwork and painted miniatures in memorial jewelry, using the stone as lens and protective lid at once. We are doing the same thing with hand engraving underneath instead.

Is the engraving done by hand?
Yes, cut into the silver with a graver before the quartz is set over it. That also means it has to be right the first time, because a cut line cannot be undone and nothing can be adjusted once the stone is in.

What is Lucanidae?
The scientific family of stag beetles, named for the antler-like mandibles the males carry.

How long do stag beetles live?
The larva spends several years in dead and rotting wood. The adult beetle, the one with the antlers, lives only a few weeks. Years in the dark for one short summer.

Are the antlers dangerous?
Not to you. Males use them to wrestle rival males, levering them off branches, and they cannot generate enough force to hurt a person. They are display and leverage rather than weapons.

Are stag beetles rare?
They are in decline across much of Europe and are protected under EU habitats law, largely because dead wood gets tidied away and the larvae have nowhere to live.

What is cathedralcore?
An aesthetic built on gothic ecclesiastical architecture: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, tracery, rose windows and the deliberate verticality of buildings made to draw the eye upward. In our work it is the Regina collection, and it is about the architecture and the grandeur rather than religion.

Is clear quartz a real gemstone?
Yes. Clear quartz is a genuine natural mineral, one of the most abundant on earth, which keeps it affordable. It sits at 7 on the Mohs scale and stands up perfectly well to wear.

Does a chain come with this pendant?
Not as standard. The price is for the pendant, which arrives with a faux leather cord. A sterling silver chain can be added as an option or bought separately, and we would suggest a heavier one for this piece.

Will sterling silver tarnish?
Yes, all sterling silver does. Normal reaction to air and skin, not a fault. On a piece with this much tracery, a little tarnish in the recesses genuinely improves the contrast. Your upkeep document explains how to clean her without flattening the detail, and keeping the quartz clean matters more than usual here, since light has to travel through it to reach the engraving.