The rook piercing goes vertically through the lower leg of the antihelix, above the tragus and just back from the forward helix. This piercing was pioneered and popularized by Erik Dakota in the early nineties, and was first showcased in Body Play magazine in 1992, alongside the first printed reference to the industrial piercing (then termed "industrial ear project"), and the daith piercing. Erik is said to have named the rook after after a shortened version of his first name.
While this piercing is usually done with a curved barbell for the initial healing, a ring can be worn in the piercing as well one the piercing is healed. Neometal's press-fit curved barbells are usually the jewelry of choice, available with either plain beads, side-set gem balls, or more ornate gold and titanium options. You can see our selection of press-fit posts and ends in our online store.
As with other ear cartilage piercings, healing for rook piercings is six months or longer, so we will not do cartilage piercings in both ears at the same time. Multiple cartilage piercings can be done on the same ear in the same sitting, but you'll need to wait until all piercings on one ear are fully healed before getting a new cartilage piercing on the other ear. You need one ear to sleep on, use to talk on the phone, etc., and getting cartilage pierced in both ears at the same time can be incredibly difficult to heal—if not impossible.
