Galatea was a fair and lovely Nereid, a sea nymph of the Mediterranean. She was born to the sea god Nereus and the nymph Doris, on a cool, tranquil morning, and she would forever after be the one who brings gentle tides, the goddess of the calm sea.

Her name means “she who is milk-white,” and like the exquisite pearls of the Galatea collar, she is of the ocean, gloriously imperfect in her natural beauty, marked by saltwater and fashioned into something iridescent, as if softly lit from within. The Nereids treasured these jewels of the deep and wore strings of pearls to bind their hearts to their home, the sea.

The pearls of the Galatea collar swirl like the burbling waters of the river god Acis, who, in life, was Galatea’s beloved. The circular shape, or annulus, represents the everlasting love between the sea nymph and the river god, as ceaseless as the tides, a love that endured beyond the bounds of life and death.

This necklace is 14 inches long, with a 2 inch gold vermeil extender.