Earrings were one of the first things I made from fish leather, and they are still one of my favourites. A small piece of salmon skin is enough for a pair, and every pair turns out different. In this post I show you the colours you can choose from, how the sizes look when you wear them, and why Icelandic nature is such a big part of every piece.

Why fish leather for earrings?

Fish leather is light, thin and surprisingly strong, which makes it perfect for jewellery you wear all day. Our salmon leather is tanned in Iceland from skins that are a by-product of the fishing industry, so nothing goes to waste. And no, it does not smell of fish – once tanned, it looks and feels like fine exotic leather.

• Natural scale pattern – the little scale pockets catch the light, so no two earrings are exactly alike.
• Very light – even larger drop earrings are comfortable to wear.
• Stainless steel base – the leather is set in a stainless steel base, which is kind to sensitive skin.

Choose your colour

Salmon leather takes dye beautifully, from soft natural greys to deep ocean blues, lava blacks, moss greens and bright reds. Here is our current colour chart – every circle is a real piece of salmon leather.

Each colour has a short code, which makes ordering easy:

• W, G – white and greys, natural and elegant
• B – blacks, including B/G with gold and B/S with silver shimmer
• Bl – blues, from pale glacier ice to deep North Atlantic navy
• Gr – greens and turquoise, like Icelandic moss and glacial lagoons
• Br, Y – browns, golds and yellows
• R, V, P – reds, burgundy, violet and pink

Just tell us the colour code you want when you order. You can see more of the colours on the Different colours of salmon fish leather page.

Which size suits you?

I make stud earrings in four sizes: 6, 10, 12 and 14 mm. Size changes the whole look of a stud:

• 6 mm – small and discreet, a good everyday stud or a second piercing.
• 10 mm – clearly visible, so the scale texture really shows.
• 12 mm – a balanced size for most people, and the one you see on our Icelandic salmon fish leather studs page.
• 14 mm – a bold statement piece.

For something more dramatic, drop earrings with two or three leather circles of different sizes hang beautifully and move when you walk.

Made in Icelandic nature

Iceland is where this leather comes from, and it is where most of my ideas come from too. The black lava fields, grey volcanic stone, blue glacier ice and green moss are all in the colour chart above. These black salmon leather studs were photographed next to a live lava flow during an eruption in Iceland – black scales on black lava.

How to care for fish leather earrings

• Put your earrings on after perfume, hairspray and make-up.
• Take them off before swimming, showering or sport.
• If they get wet, let them dry naturally at room temperature.
• Store them in a small box or pouch so the leather surface is not scratched.

Make your own

If you are a jewellery maker, fish leather is a wonderful material for earrings, pendants and rings. Small panels such as our salmon fish leather panels for jewellery making are cut to a handy size and come in many of the colours above.

Prefer to have them ready to wear? Browse our fish leather earrings and pick your colour.