Vanitas Lumen Serpentis Earrings

A stark meditation on the duality of social allure and isolation, the Vanitas Lumen Serpentis reinterprets the serpent—an ancient symbol of temptation and wisdom—through the lens of modern artifice. The earrings feature a double-helix structure in oxidized sterling silver, its matte, textured coils evoking both the sinuous elegance of vipers and the barbed wire of guarded ambition. 

Amsterdam-based designer Saskia Voss once worked as a biographer for Europe’s elite, transcribing their curated lives until she grew obsessed with the gaps between their public radiance and private unraveling. Lumen Serpentis was born from her interviews with a reclusive heiress who wore serpent jewelry "to remind others I bite." The coiled structure mirrors the suffocating embrace of social climbing, while the diamond’s precarious placement reflects the fragility of reputation.