Earrings: Sisters and studs

As Jill and I walked up Avenue Beaubien, she asked what I thought about the tiny silver studs she was wearing.

I said I'd bet that she had not chosen them herself. (For over forty years, I've stood at her side while she's tried on earrings.) She admitted that her sister, Marcy, had bought them for her when they went to a craft show. She was touched by Marcy's gesture, as was I.

If there is one overwhelming trend in "relaxed real" earrings today, it is the generic, minimalist 3mm-4mm stud. Many are 3D-printed geometric designs: bars, triangles, circles.

Craft-show exhibitors stock such earrings because they sell well—a modest use of metal keeps the price point low. A jeweller friend calls these designs "itsy, bitsy, shitsy"; I call them "yoga earrings" because you don't have to take them off for a class. Tiny earrings suit multiple piercings, but they looked lost on Jill's singly-pierced ears.

Jill asked her question just steps from one of my favourite local jewellers, Pilar Agueci, so I asked her to step in to look at other earrings. She said they had to be light, casual, and cover the hole in each ear.

Jill was smitten by the Celena open loop earrings (below, left), in silver; price, $CDN 110. (I was purring over the gold and diamond version shown, $CDN 760, but she wears silver.) They are not as big as the photo suggests— the length is 4cm or 1.57 in., nor are they hoops; they sit on the ear. The price is steeper than her sister's gift, but what a difference!

A few more examples of light but 'substantial enough' earrings:
Upper right: Also from Pilar Agueci, asymmetric pearl and silver Nova earrings, $CDN 165.  The longer one is 5.5cm or about 2 inches.
Lower right: Gotta have studs? These versatile 1.27cm/1/2 diameter silver studs add interest and scale. Made by Kuage by Kothari; price, $US 162 at TwistOnline.

Regardless of your size, there's a range where the proportion is good, and a too-small zone. As a "rule of ear", if you are wearing one earring in each ear, a pair of studs significantly smaller than your pinky nail will risk not looking grown-up enough unless it is a beautifully-cut gem.

If the earrings are all-metal, they should be solid enough to create a sense of substance; anything light as a straight pin is too flimsy.

I recently shopped for someone petite and fine-boned. When she recently announced a move from Montréal, Judy offered me her sewing machine. I wanted thank her with a gift made locally. (If only I could inherit her brio, too! I wrote about her here.)

She wears no rings or necklaces; I have seen her only in small silver bar studs. The Celena pair would be as wrong for her as door-knockers on a nun, but I returned to Pilar's knowing I'd find the right gift.

I chose silver Maza studs, 1cm (.5in.) squiggles that just hit the fingernail guideline, and are not generic.

And that's the thing: what's wonderful on one sister is entirely jarring on another. "How did you know what would be perfect for me?", Judy asked. It's about style, scale and really noticing the wearer.

If jewellery is not an apt memento of our city, there's always a pair of poutine socks!