Vintage and Antique Earrings

Antique and vintage earrings

This page brings together antique earrings, made more than a hundred years ago, and vintage earrings from the 1940s onwards. Each pair is listed with its metal, stones and measurements, its fitting (pierced, screw back, clip-on or more than one) and photographs from several angles.

Georgian earrings

Georgian earrings, made before 1837, are set in closed-back silver and gold with rose cut diamonds, foiled coloured stones or paste. The girandole, a top with three pear-shaped drops hanging below it, is the classic 18th century form.

Victorian drop earrings

Long drops were the Victorian evening earring: natural pearl and diamond drops, Colombian emerald drops, and diamonds set in silver over gold, the setting that makes diamonds look whiter against the metal. Cameo earrings were often made as part of a suite with a matching brooch or pendant.

Edwardian and Art Deco earrings

Around 1900 platinum made settings finer and lighter, and Belle Époque drops combine diamonds and natural pearls in platinum. Art Deco earrings of the 1920s and 1930s are geometric and usually platinum, often with emeralds, sapphires or onyx against diamonds. Earrings described as "Art Deco style" were made later and appear under the Vintage filter.

Vintage earrings from the 1940s onwards

Vintage earrings are bolder: gold scrolls and knots of the 1940s and 1950s, cluster earrings, hoops, and 1970s pairs in textured gold with coloured stones and mother of pearl. Many are by signed jewellers, and the listing names the maker where the pair is signed.

Screw back, clip-on and day and night earrings

Screw back fittings appeared at the end of the 19th century and let women with unpierced ears wear earrings. Clip-on fittings followed in the 1930s and were the usual fitting for larger earrings through the middle of the century, which is why so many vintage pairs are clips. Day and night earrings have a detachable drop: the top is worn alone in the day and the drop is added in the evening.

Pearl earrings

Natural pearls form without human help and were the only pearls before cultured pearls became widely available in the 1920s, so Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian pearls are natural. Later pieces use cultured pearls, including South Sea pearls, white to golden, and Tahitian pearls, which are dark. Each listing states which type the piece has.

Diamond earrings

Diamond earrings run from studs to statement drops and hoops. Antique pairs use old cut diamonds, cut by hand with a high crown, which give broad flashes of light rather than the fine sparkle of a modern brilliant.

Emerald and coloured stone earrings

Emeralds are the most frequent coloured stone here, from Victorian and Art Deco Colombian emerald drops to vintage pairs in gold. Rubies and sapphires rank 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness, after diamond at 10, so they suit earrings worn every day. Signed pairs by David Webb, Tiffany & Co., Asprey and others name the maker on their listings.

Matching suites

Earrings were often made as part of a suite. A parure is a full matching set, usually a necklace, earrings, brooch and bracelet; a demi-parure is a smaller set, such as earrings with a brooch or pendant. Where a pair comes with its matching pieces, or they are listed separately, the listing says so.

Reading the metal

British gold carries a fineness mark: 18 or 750 for 18KT, 15 for 15KT, 14 or 585 for 14KT and 9 or 375 for 9KT. 15KT was a legal British standard only from 1854 to 1932, so a 15KT mark dates a piece to that window on its own. Platinum was not hallmarked in Britain until 1975, so earlier platinum is often unmarked or stamped PLAT. The metal of every piece is stated on its listing.

Seeing a pair in person

You can view any pair by appointment at 47 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London W1S 2PG, or at our office at Unit 20B Lakes Industrial Park, Braintree, Essex CM7 3RU. If you cannot visit, ask for more photographs or a video of the piece.