Inspired by history and her grandmother’s love of crystals, Rachel King created eco-friendly, all-natural, and ethically sourced crystal jewelry brand Eaarthbones. After studying photography in school, King transformed her self-taught hobby into a thriving online business with products now available in local retails like A Keeper’s Vintage. We sat down with King to talk about the inspiration behind her jewelry and the future of her Baltimore-based brand.

How did you come up with the name Eaarthbones?
So Eaarthbones is kind of a take on crystals being bones of our earth, of our world. The two a’s are from a book by Bill McKibben and it talks about how the earth is not what it used to be, but the earth that we have now we should definitely protect and cherish and treat with respect. That is a big pillar for Eaarthbones. I work with all ethically sourced materials, a lot of up-cycled materials, all vegan—so I really wanted all of my jewelry to be sustainable as well as beautiful.

Why did you choose to start an eco-friendly business?
There is so much waste already out there and there are so many things that we don’t even use as human beings that I didn’t want to contribute to it. I only wanted to enhance our knowledge of the earth. So the crystals definitely teach us about the earth and ourselves. I wanted the materials I used to go hand-in-hand with that.

How do you go about choosing the crystals for your jewelry?
I get all of my crystals from other small businesses that I know in the United States. Each step along that process is really important. I kind of devise a plan for the crystals that I want to use and the colors that are in season or that reflect my collection styles. Then I just make sure that they’re from different sources that I know they are ethically sourcing them.

What is your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur in Baltimore?
There’s so many people doing pretty much exactly what I’m doing, like working full-time plus being an entrepreneur plus having their business. Some months are slower than others and just everyone is so determined and willing to help each other.

What is your go-to jewelry piece?
I love wearing my Maura Hoops. I wear those pretty much every day. They’re super lightweight. The hoops I’ve been making since I started so they’re also near and dear to my heart.

How long does it typically take to make a piece of jewelry?
It depends on how many times I’ve made it before and how intricate it is. The intricate, wire-wrapped pieces, those could take up to two hours. There are some pieces I’ve been making for years, like hoops or rings, that really take me about five minutes. It’s really the practice of doing it over and over again—some of it has really becomes second-nature to me.

Where do you draw inspiration for your jewelry?
I make collections. Like last fall, I had the talisman collection, which is all very inspired by different cultures and talismans throughout history. I had a siren collection where each piece was named after a different mermaid throughout history. So a lot of history and mythology really inspires my work.

What does the future for Eaarthbones look like?
I would love to one day have my shop on wheels so I could move around. I don’t necessarily like the idea of a brick and mortar because I feel really tied down. I have a studio up in Cockeysville, so just making that more available for people to come and enjoy my work and making that my shop would be really cool.

I just dropped a spring collection, which was very inspired by the moon and the stars. So it was a lot of really big crystals, a lot of 14K and sterling silver wire. I’m hoping to my brand gets a little more upgraded with each collection.