Art deco platinum and jade earrings: need help converting setting

[Seastheday]

Hi all,

Shout out to @HockeyMama: thank you for sending me the Dupuis auction link!

I just won the jade earrings for $2000 usd (including 25% premium). To be honest I think I got a little carried away in the last moments and bid a little higher than I had intended to for earrings that need some work (see below) and prob treated Jade, but oh well.

So…now I need to convert the earring backs. The auction house had previously sent me a photo of the earring backs: the wire and screw back are in 14k yellow gold, and the diamonds are set in platinum.



Has anyone seen ear wires like this before that hook over the entire ear in the back?? Is this common for older earrings? Or are they a later addition do you think? Meaning, I wouldn’t be butchering an antique piece by lopping the ear wire off and just converting to platinum posts? I really try to “respect” and keep intact antique pieces in their original state if I can, but not sure if I can live with those huge ear wires hugging my entire ear from the back. On the other hand, I’d prob lose the cable reception that these ginormous ear wires can prob get

@LilAlex sorry to tag you but your sense of humor is always so perfect so I’m just dying to hear what jokes you would make of these ear wires. No pressure!

Also, the earring weight listed is not light. To avoid front tipping, should I do posts or French wire or something else all together?

 

[HockeyMama]

I have no response to your specific questions but congratulations! They are beautiful and the total cost seems reasonable compared to other things on the list! If you got carried away it was within reason.

 

[athenaworth]

Oh man I'd keep them as is. I love those hooks. They make the earrings so comfy.

 

[VRBeauty]

Those earrings are beautiful - a lovely, elegant look. I think the long wire is intended to act as sort of a “safety chain,” ensuring that you won’t lose the earrings if they slip off. Not everyone can wear screw-on earrings comfortably. I’d guess that their previous owner didn’t like screwing the backs too tightly, and added the long wire as a sort of insurance. And personally, I think it’s kind of genius!

But if they were my earrings I think I’d replace the screw back with 14k posts and some very, very secure push- on backs.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

the jade looks lovely
congradulations on the auction win

 

[RRfromR]

I love them!

 

[Seastheday]

Thanks all who responded already for all the love and suggestions!

I can give those ear wires a try, but I think I’ll likely convert them as I’m not too into the look of having a bit of that 14k ear wire hang visible on the top of my ear like in the vendor photo above. I do want to try to keep the antique “integrity” of the piece. So if there are any antique jewelry lovers who can comment on what type of earring setting (post? French wire?) would be more true to the age of the piece?

(The earrings are described by vendor as circa 1915 although I really don’t know enough myself to be able to tell if that is true or not, so it may be a moot point trying to preserve age appropriate features if in fact this is not a genuine antique piece. Perhaps folks more knowledgeable about antique jewelry can chime in regarding age. I bought it simply because I like the look regardless of age or stone treatment.)

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

The ear hooks are to make the earring comfortable and wearable/bearable if they’re actually super heavy! And these seem to be earrings made for someone with unpierced ears, so they probably would’ve needed the added support. Before you remove them completely you’ll need to gauge whether you can tolerate the weight on your ears.

What you can do is get them converted to push or screw backs like someone said, and you will still likely be able to use the ear hooks if you wanted if you tell the jeweller who does the conversion to preserve the hook. I use ear supports with some of my earrings (a different style though) and they are always removable - you can just thread them on to the post with the loop.

But if you don’t like the look, you can always scrap the hooks and then use ear support patches instead if needed. I understand and appreciate preserving vintage treasures, but they also have to work for you! I think wearability trumps preservation personally. In the past people often cannibalised older things to make them work for them.