Death can be kind | One of a Kind pendant | mother of pearl | Curiosity Cabinet

Handcrafted Death’s-Head Hawkmoth Pendant in Recycled Sterling Silver with Mother of Pearl | One of a Kind

A death’s-head hawkmoth in recycled sterling silver, wings spread, with a mother of pearl drop hanging beneath her. Named for what this moth actually does to become itself. There is one of her.

The Essence

It buries itself.
It dissolves.
It digs back out wearing a skull.

Inspiration & Story

Death Can Be Kind belongs to the Curiosity Cabinet collection, a realm built from witchcraft, folklore, natural oddities and the strange beauty of things we keep.

The name is not decoration. It is a description of this particular animal’s life.

A death’s-head hawkmoth caterpillar does not spin a cocoon on a branch. It burrows into the ground, makes a chamber in the soil and pupates there, buried. And inside that pupa it does something far stranger than growing wings. Most of its body breaks down into fluid. The caterpillar is largely dissolved and rebuilt from small clusters of cells that were waiting the whole time. Then it digs back up out of the earth with wings, a proboscis, and a skull marking across its back.

Buried. Liquefied. Returned. If anything has earned the name, it is this.

The rest of the animal is equally unreasonable. The genus is Acherontia, named after Acheron, one of the rivers of the Greek underworld, and its three species are atropos, styx and lachesis. Styx is the other underworld river, and Atropos and Lachesis are two of the three Fates, Atropos being the one who cuts the thread of a life. Somebody in the eighteenth century looked at a moth with a skull on its back and committed entirely to a theme.

It also squeaks, forcing air out through its proboscis in an audible chirp, which is deeply unusual for a moth. And it breaks into beehives to steal honey, moving through a colony of thousands of bees that mostly leave it alone.

The wings are sculpted with their full vein structure and blackened down into it so the pattern reads, and the body is built segment by segment.

Hanging below her, a mother of pearl drop. Mother of pearl is nacre, the identical material a pearl is made of, laid down by the same animal on the inside of its shell rather than around a grain of grit. It is the lining of a house something lived in. Which puts two abandoned bodies on one pendant, the moth’s and the mollusc’s, and makes the quieter of the two the one that glows.

Nacre is built in microscopic layers, and the shifting iridescence is light bouncing between those layers rather than any pigment in it. It moves when you do.

Solid recycled 925 sterling silver, made at our own bench in the Netherlands, by two people.

For lovers of death’s-head hawkmoth and entomology jewelry, memento mori and memorial pieces, mother of pearl, transformation symbolism, curiosity cabinets, gothic naturalist design, and one of a kind sterling silver jewelry.

Creation Details

Jewelry Type: Pendant
Availability: One of a Kind
Collection: Curiosity Cabinet
Brand: Atelier Wolfstone
Material: Recycled 925 Sterling Silver
Gemstone(s): Mother of pearl.

Weight: 7.16 g
Size: 45 x 33 mm
Sizing: Fixed. This is a finished creation and cannot be made in other dimensions.
Necklace: Not included. A sterling silver necklace can be added as an option.
Personalisation: None. She is finished as shown.

Shipping Time: Ships within 5 working days

This is a One of a Kind creation. There is one of her and she will not be made again in this form.

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

The mother of pearl was set at the bench by us. Nacre is soft and marks under pressure, so there is no forcing a setting closed and no second attempt at it. The wing veining was blackened into the texture and polished back across the raised surfaces, which is the only way wing pattern reads at this scale.

Style & Wear

A quiet memorial piece for memento mori, entomology and gothic naturalist collarbones.

At 45 x 33 mm she has real width across the top where most pendants are narrow, so she reads clearly from across a room, and the drop below gives her length and a little movement as you walk.

Mother of pearl against blackened silver is soft rather than high contrast, so she is gentler than her name. The iridescence shifts as you move, which makes her a different pendant in a bright room than in a dim one.

She is a good piece for someone you are carrying, and for a year that ended something. She says so without announcing it.

Practical Notes

• 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. Mother of pearl is soft and reacts to acids, so please read the care answers below before wearing her.
• 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

What is a death’s-head hawkmoth?
A large moth of the genus Acherontia, found across Europe, Africa and Asia, named for the skull-shaped marking on its thorax. It is one of the very few moths that can produce an audible sound, and it raids beehives for honey.

Why is the pendant called Death Can Be Kind?
Because of how this moth becomes itself. The caterpillar burrows into the ground and pupates underground, and inside the pupa most of its body breaks down into fluid before rebuilding from small clusters of cells. It then digs back out of the earth with wings and a skull on its back. Buried, dissolved, returned.

Does a caterpillar really dissolve inside the pupa?
Largely, yes. Most of the caterpillar’s tissue breaks down, and the adult is rebuilt from groups of cells that were present the whole time. It is a rebuild rather than a simple growth of wings.

Why is it called Acherontia?
After Acheron, one of the rivers of the Greek underworld. The three species in the genus are atropos, styx and lachesis. Styx is the other underworld river, and Atropos and Lachesis are two of the three Fates, Atropos being the one who cuts the thread of a life.

Do death’s-head hawkmoths really squeak?
Yes. When disturbed they force air out through the proboscis, producing a short audible chirp. It is genuinely unusual among moths.

Do they really steal honey from beehives?
They do. They enter hives and feed on honey, and are mostly not attacked by the resident bees while doing it.

What does a moth symbolise?
Transformation, and being drawn toward light in the dark. A death’s-head adds mortality to that through the skull, which makes it memento mori arriving on wings rather than carved in stone.

What is mother of pearl?
Nacre: the same material a pearl is made of, laid down by the same animal on the inside of its shell rather than around an irritant. It is effectively the lining of the shell.

Why does mother of pearl shimmer?
Because nacre is built in microscopic layers, and light reflecting between those layers interferes with itself. The colour you see is an optical effect rather than pigment, which is why it shifts as you move.

How delicate is mother of pearl?
Soft. Nacre sits at roughly 2.5 to 4.5 on the Mohs scale, well below quartz, which makes it one of the most delicate materials we set. It can be scratched by ordinary household dust.

How do I look after her?
Put her on last, after perfume, hairspray and makeup, and take her off first. Wipe her with a soft damp cloth after wearing and let her dry. Never use ultrasonic or steam cleaners, jewelry dips, or anything containing acid or alcohol. Store her away from harder stones.

Why do acids damage nacre?
Because nacre is largely calcium carbonate, which reacts with acid. Perfume, hairspray, vinegar, citrus and many household cleaners will dull or etch the surface, and that damage does not polish out the way a scratch on a hard stone would.

Can I shower or swim in her?
No. Take her off for both, and for sport. Chlorine and prolonged water are particularly unkind to nacre.

How big is 45 x 33 mm?
Wide across the wings and a little shorter than your thumb. She reads as a clear statement rather than a subtle piece.

Does a necklace come with her?
No. A sterling silver necklace can be added as an option.

Will sterling silver tarnish?
Yes, all sterling silver does. Normal reaction to air and skin, not a fault. On a piece with this much wing texture a little tarnish improves the contrast. Important here: use a soft dry cloth on the silver only and keep polish and silver dips well away from the mother of pearl.

Can you make me one of these?
Not this one. If you want something built specifically for you, that is what our Custom Realm is for.