WONDERS OF COLUMBA IONA GREENSTONE TORC NECKLACE

Breathtaking modern Celtic-inspired Torc necklace, telling the story of all the Wonders of Columba - the cycle of life itself. 

Beginning with the Acanthus patterns found on Iona Celtic high crosses and beloved by the Ritchies, the necklace depicts the stone plants growing back to life at the end of Maeve’s pencil, winding around the historic Celtic torc shape, morphing into waves of the sea, then becoming feathers and wings of waterbirds, whose heads fly over two chain drops - ending with a silver fish and a golden sun - holding two teardrops of Iona greenstone. This stone is long said to give safe passage over water, shaped like teardrops for the legend of the white horse of Iona that shed tears when embraced by St Columba on the night he ascended to heaven. 

In Celtic mythology, these waterbirds represent the place between earth and another world, beyond our here and now. Iona itself is long considered the island that will remain above the sea when others do not. 

When creating the first Ì Mo Chridhe designs, Maeve discovered a beautiful little quaich in an antique shop on the Scottish mainland, which was hand-engraved and signed by Mhairi’s relative, the Ritchies’ apprentice Iain MacCormick, featuring two sets of Celtic interlaced waterbirds. Maeve brought the quaich back to Iona for Mhairi, and ‘Iain’s birds’ immediately flew onto Maeve’s sketchbook pages - arising as this torc, pendant and earrings, as if drawing themselves - reconnecting to the unbroken line of Celtic art of Iona.

The stories of St Columba’s life on Iona live on in St Adomnan’s Life of Columba, written by the ninth Abbot of the Iona Monastery in the century after St Columba’s time. The resonance of these saintly miracles continue to shine bright today, drawing pilgrims and visitors to Iona from all over the world.

This necklace is oxidised sterling silver set with green Iona serpentine stones. The circlet around the neck is 14” long with 2 x (1.5cm) extenders, to allow up to 17” total length, joined with a S-shaped hook clasp. The flexible circlet is made up of 7 individual curved bars, connected with jump rings. The two chain drops are made from 3cm and 4cm of (1.4mm) belcher chain. Each drop has a single sterling silver top holding a 12mm x 6mm teardrop-shaped hand-carved Iona stone. Each piece is Hallmarked Sterling Silver by the Edinburgh Assay Office in Scotland.

Please note 2023 delivery is up to 10 weeks. Please order by October 9 for guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery. Standard delivery time from January 2024 will be 3-4 weeks. Custom, enamel and carved stone items will be 5-6 weeks.