These are hand carved ivory Pikake flower earrings. The gold crest is something I cast from a22 karat English crest.

Pikake Flowers-the back story 

The world was rebuilding after WW11 but it was particularly difficult in Hawaii. After Pearl Harbor the locals on the Islands felt an animosity toward ‘white folks’.

At that time there was a store that opened in Honolulu, named “Mings of Honolulu”. It was a jewelry store geared toward locals and not on the main drag in Waikiki where the tourists tended to stay.

Pikake flowers are the most fragrant and beautiful flower on the islands and considered the flower of Hawaii, long before flowers were associated with states officially.

Mings of Honolulu had these flowers hand  carved in China and imported in the form of jewelry to the islands. Every local woman had to have either an earring, bracelet, necklace or ring made with these flowers. It was a silent symbol that you were local, meaning you got better cuts of meat from the butcher, discounts on baked goods and fruit stands etc..

They are often made in plastic as the vintage bone ones are collectable and hard to find.