It’s winter gift-giving season, and so everyone has been posting gift guides and I’ve been browsing Etsy looking for gifts for my friends and family. And naturally while I’m there, I spend some time looking at things I like too. I mean, why not? And I don’t know if it’s just that everyone is filling their shops with their best stuff in preparation for Christmas or what, but I found a whole lot more excellent sciency goodness than the last time I went looking, some months ago. Clearly this means it’s time for another post about my quest for nerdy-and-attractive jewelry!

I’d originally meant to put photos and comments about everything here, but I just kept finding more great stuff and it was just too overwhelming. So I’ve picked out just a few of my very favorites, and the rest you can see on my etsy profile. If there is a lady scientist or science enthusiast in your life, (or even a scientist of the tie-or-cufflink-wearing persuasion; I branched out a bit this time) consider getting her some of these lovely items. And while you’re coming up with gift ideas, check out this fine selection of speculative fiction by writers of color.

I searched etsy for “algorithm” hoping for some hardcore computer science nerdery, and all the results were from a single shop. So I picked out one piece I liked best, but it’s all worth a look. The designs are all based on some pretty fancy software, like the computer simulations of leaf veins that went into these earrings, which seems to be the closest I’ll get to something like a visualization of an algorithm enshrined in jewelry. Since I don’t really know what that would mean myself, I’m not going to complain. Plus these are gorgeous. But if any of my readers manage to make some jewelry inspired by quicksort or finite automata or something, do let me know.

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I also did a search for “geology” (you begin to understand my methods here), and most of it was just jewelry that included semi-precious stones. It’s not that I don’t think geologists would like jewelry like that, but if you just want pretty dangly rocks, you can get them all over the place. I’m looking for really unusual items, and I think a nice hand-drawn plate tectonic diagram qualifies pretty well. Plus it’s only $20. I know it’s just a black-and-white print, but considering the size, that is still a ridiculously good price for art like this. Maybe I just have weird taste in wall art, but I don’t understand why it hasn’t been snatched up. There are color and white-on-black versions, too.

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Crocheted neurons. Don’t ask me what I’d do with them. All I know is that I love them.

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It’s soap that looks like germs! In a petri dish! Perfect for your friend who already has the best giant microbe plushies. They come in many colors and scents, and they make me giggle.

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They’re earrings in the shape of your inner ear. I don’t need to explain any more, do I?

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This pendant is based on a french curve or drafter’s curve, which I’ve never used but is the sort of thing I gather engineers and architects use - anyone who does technical drawing that needs precise, smooth curves. And the shape itself is so pretty, it’s a perfect candidate for my “subtle, attractive, but recognizable to those in the know” nerd jewelry goals.