Help with simple sapphire earring design

[LilAlex]

Bumping in hopes there might be a progress report! @LilAlex

Hahahaha! There is -- and just today! Our jeweler talked us out of the closed huggie-hoop design because the catch always gives out and they get lost. (We have known him for decades and I trust him on this.) So we are starting with solid Pt 10mm "almost-hoops" with a small post back. DD was in town today and had a chance to check them out.

With this design, I wanted a double jump-ring design with the drops permanently attached to the "bottom" of the hoops but DD (and the jeweler) prefers ones with a generous loop that can slide front-to-back on the hoop like a charm. It is "captive" because there is a sort of nailhead on the free end of the 3/4 hoop so a slider with close tolerance can not slip off once it's on the ear. Kinda like the @Cerulean drawings above.

I know a picture would be better -- hope to have one soon.

Once that is done, I will get to work on your lovely design for the (much higher-stakes) two-stone dangles -- Asschers above colored stones for my spouse.

I hope the thesis went (is going?) OK...!

 

[LD]

Sorry haven’t read the whole thread - just your initial post. A quick question - does your daughter like lever back earrings? I tend to find that the younger generation prefer a more modern approach. Knowing her preference would make a huge difference to a design.

if I were designing something for a youngster I would have a plain vertical bar (with an earring post at the top) and then bezel set (to avoid claws catching on hair) the gem in the centre and then carry on with the plain bar and perhaps a diamond at the end of the bar.

 

[LilAlex]

A quick question - does your daughter like lever back earrings? I tend to find that the younger generation prefer a more modern approach. Knowing her preference would make a huge difference to a design.

if I were designing something for a youngster I would have a plain vertical bar (with an earring post at the top) and then bezel set (to avoid claws catching on hair) the gem in the centre and then carry on with the plain bar and perhaps a diamond at the end of the bar.

Thanks!

I would love what you describe (and would love to make that for my spouse) but it's too dressy for DD. She is post-college-age and has multiple piercings and generally wears tiny studs (like gold and almost-invisibly-small opal). She has already weighed in on the design. Gave me free rein at the outset and then narrowed down the options. It all started when I saw the cool inexpensive pair of mismatched sapphires.

It's also a test case for making my spouse some earrings since she has some very inexpensive earrings (think $12 in one case) that she loves and I am (we are) trying to learn the design nuances that make them so appealing. Some are leverbacks -- she loves those -- but not suitable for DD's preferred design.

Spouse and DD have long hair and are very active so that is a factor in all this.

 

[LilAlex]

Ok they are done! With special thanks to @Cerulean, @Rfisher, @ringo865, @LD and especially @emmy12, here are some photos.

These are not the design I will use for spouse's -- aiming for something like the wonderful @emmy12 posts above. This was influenced -- as it should be (!) -- by DD's sense of style; she has multiple (tasteful) piercings per ear and likes the idea of maybe swapping for different colors later on. So a "loose" drop (it can slide off the end with the backing) and not a captive one -- like with two jump rings -- was what she was after.

In terms of cost, it was definitely: solid platinum almost-hoops with 10 mm interior diameter >> bezel-setting the stones >> cost of the pastel unheated mismatched sapphires from Adamant. Note: he has a newly-listed pair of these colors with much more vivid hues -- but a lot more money. I think this pair was a few hundred dollars, IIRC.

To save money, we definitely could have gone hollow and WG but these have great backs and should be durable for years. (Our family is tough on hollow earrings!)

 

[Efleon]

Ok they are done! With special thanks to @Cerulean, @Rfisher, @ringo865, @LD and especially @emmy12, here are some photos.

These are not the design I will use for spouse's -- aiming for something like the wonderful @emmy12 posts above. This was influenced -- as it should be (!) -- by DD's sense of style; she has multiple (tasteful) piercings per ear and likes the idea of maybe swapping for different colors later on. So a "loose" drop (it can slide off the end with the backing) and not a captive one -- like with two jump rings -- was what she was after.

In terms of cost, it was definitely: solid platinum almost-hoops with 10 mm interior diameter >> bezel-setting the stones >> cost of the pastel unheated mismatched sapphires from Adamant. Note: he has a newly-listed pair of these colors with much more vivid hues -- but a lot more money. I think this pair was a few hundred dollars, IIRC.

To save money, we definitely could have gone hollow and WG but these have great backs and should be durable for years. (Our family is tough on hollow earrings!)

I just read the entire post and I adoooore the finished project!
So cool wearable yet super classy!
Congratulations!
Such great input from everyone.
Makes me want to do the same!!!

 

[bright&shiny]

I don’t know how I missed this project - but wow, what a great outcome! I love the colors, the proportions and the nail head detail. Congratulations and I hope your DH has many happy years with them!

 

[Cerulean]

Absolutely gorgeous! Very cool - perfect balance of funky and classic. I love that the dangles can be swapped - ideal for versatility and frankly I think solid metal feels much more luxe and substantial. I have solid hoops and when I wear hollow ones they feel flimsy

 

[LilAlex]

Thanks so much, @Cerulean, @bright&shiny, and @Efleon for the kind words!

DD will pick them up when she comes home here for a visit. (It's a little bittersweet when it's no longer "coming home" -- but that's a different post and we've all been there!)

 

[emmy12]

Love the outcome! Solid hoops will never go out of style, and being able to swap those dangles + the movement from the dangles is going to look stunning. Hope your DD loves them! Send pics when she comes back for a visit and picks them up!

(Also can't wait to see when you make the other version for the spouse!!!)

Edit to add: Someone posted an "upside down" stone with the pavillion facing up. I wonder what these would look like if you flipped the sapphires backwards. Maybe even more edgy!

 

[LilAlex]

Someone posted an "upside down" stone with the pavillion facing up. I wonder what these would look like if you flipped the sapphires backwards. Maybe even more edgy!

Good point! And I could see that happening by accident -- these are pretty small stones and earrings!

Just for the record, I am not sure why there are so many photos -- the interface froze as I was "choosing" and I didn't want to throw the whole thing away and start over .

 

[2Neesers]

I absolutely love this idea and how the earrings turned out! So beautiful and versatile!