Types of earrings explained

A single element sitting against the lobe: a solitaire diamond, a pearl, a cluster or a cabochon. Antique studs were often converted from other jewels, so it is worth asking whether the fitting is original.

Because a stud sits still, it is the one earring type where a fine claw setting is genuinely low risk.

A hoop passes through the ear and closes on itself. Creole is the European term for the classic tapered hoop that is wider at the bottom, common in Dutch and French gold from the nineteenth century onward.

Check the hinge and the catch on a vintage hoop before you wear it out. It is the part that has been opened and closed thousands of times.

A drop hangs a single element from a top fitting, so it swings. Pendeloque describes the classic pear-shaped drop. A day-and-night earring is a Georgian and Victorian idea worth knowing: the drop detaches, leaving a plain top to wear during the day.

Convertible earrings are the best value in vintage jewelry, because you are buying two pairs.

Chandeliers hang several tiers of stones or metalwork that move independently. The eighteenth and nineteenth century form is the girandole: a bow or cluster top with three pear-shaped drops beneath it.

These are heavy by nature. If you have stretched piercings, look for a design that spreads its weight, or ask us about adding a supportive fitting.

Screw backs and clips date from the decades when pierced ears were out of fashion, roughly the 1900s to the 1950s, and both are common on fine mid-century earrings. Lever backs and shepherd's hooks are older European standards for pierced ears.

Converting a clip or screw back to a post is routine work when there is enough metal behind the design, and it is reversible if it is done properly. Converting a heavy chandelier is a different conversation, and we will tell you honestly when we would rather not.