{"product_id":"before-daybreak-african-opal-rooster-zodiac-necklace","title":"Before Daybreak — Amethyst Rooster Zodiac Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe rooster's own hour is not dawn. It is dusk.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone knows what the rooster is for. It is the alarm. It is the animal that decides the night is over and tells the entire village whether the village agrees or not.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo the surprising part is where it actually sits in the cycle. You, the tenth earthly branch, is the double hour from five until seven in the evening. Not sunrise. Sunset — the hour the birds go in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sign is not the crowing. The sign is the animal that knows what time it is, in both directions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is a second reason the rooster is everywhere in Chinese decoration, and it is a pun. The word for chicken sits very close to the word for auspicious. Whole categories of imagery in Chinese art exist because two words happen to sound alike, and once you know that, a great deal of what looks like symbolism turns out to be wordplay that stuck.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe rooster's own hour is not dawn. It is dusk.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003chr\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlack circle, gold bird, and a rough black stone under its feet that has been left deliberately unpolished against everything else being finished.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe tail is the reason this one exists. It runs almost the full width of the circle and it is the single most difficult shape in the series to keep from looking like a fan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe metal is solid 925 sterling silver. The gold is a plated finish over that silver and the dark sections are a black finish over the same silver — plating is a surface, it wears with time, the silver underneath does not.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePosted to you tracked. 5–10 days to the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery tail feather is separated individually. There is no way to shortcut it and there is nowhere to hide it if you try.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMaterials\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural African opal — 4 mm round\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNano black accent stones — laboratory-made, not mined\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e925 sterling silver, gold plated, with a black finish on the dark sections\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePendant 25.49 mm across, on a box chain\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFree UK delivery · 5–10 days\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarried for centuries as the sign of speaking up at the right hour. Some people feel something when they put a sign on. Some don't. Either way it is an old idea and it is accurately made.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Asi8","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49044069548202,"sku":"ASI8-OPA-025","price":189.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0719\/3313\/2970\/files\/25-1.jpg?v=1786612346","url":"https:\/\/asieight.com\/products\/before-daybreak-african-opal-rooster-zodiac-necklace","provider":"Asi8","version":"1.0","type":"link"}