Red Porphyry Marble Earrings made with the Soutache Technique

These earrings are made entirely by hand with the ancient soutache technique and have a fragment of an ancient Roman marble, red porphyry, set in the center. Soutache is a form of embroidery of ancient origins. Initially it was not used to make bijoux but to embellish the clothes of the Tsars, the cloaks of the emperors, or the military uniforms of the highest graduates. Over time, this particular technique also established itself in Italy and the first dresses embroidered with this technique were those of the Popes. Today, the soutache technique is also used to make splendid bijoux. The red porphyry ,punctuated with white or pink inclusions, had its quarries in Egypt, and was already used in the Ptolemaic era. In Rome, with Trajan, the extraction and use of porphyry became usual. It was used in sculpture, for statues, sarcophagi, floor inlays, so much that Diocletian made of it the exclusive ornament of his palaces.