The Best Studs, According to People Whose Taste We Trust

Brooklyn studio Catbird makes the sweetest little things, like theCygnet Signet RingandKitten Mitten. Its studs are delightfully tiny and shiny, too. Until I found this earring, I had only seen this pearl size — 40-mm., to be exact — on earrings for babies (the average adult stud is 8-mm.) And while these studs, with 14-karatsolid-goldposts, are small, they’re mighty. They were one of the first things I ever got from Catbird (back when a single was around $34). I don’t know how old mine are now — they’rethatold. The original single I have looks exactly the same as when I bought it — despite wearing them often and showering in them — which is no small feat for pearls since they’re low on theMohs scale of hardness(versus diamonds, which have the highest ranking). For $58 a single, I don’t think you can do much better than them.

Strategist senior editorJen Troliolikes Maison Miru’sNap Earrings, so named because they have flat backs instead of traditional butterfly backs, so the posts can’t poke the side of your head when you’re lying down.She wears the 18-karatgold-platedLittle Sphere design in her second lobe piercing. Though the default post length for a pair is 6 mm., you can also get a longer8-mm. version, and you might want to measure your ears according to thishelpful guidebecause “you can’t ‘tighten’ a flat back in the same way you can with a butterfly back,” Trolio says. These aren’t the easiest to put on — Trolio needed her husband’s help, even when following the brand’suseful how-to— but the earrings have stayed secure through showering, sleeping, and swimming for over a year.

The Sequin Stud from Kathleen Whitaker is like a paillette for your ear and comes in five different sizes: tiny (1 mm.), small (3 mm.), medium (4 mm.), large (5 mm.), and extra-large (6 mm.). Serena Mitnik-Miller of Los Angeles’sGeneral Storehas had the large version for a decade, wearing it in one ear for months at a time while she mixes and matches it with other earrings across multiple piercings. She calls the style a “classic that everyone should own,” praising it as “not too fussy, yet refined.”

“I’m obsessed with everything that comes out of designer Melissa Hernández’s brain,” says writerEmma Holland. One such item: these Vuelta studs from Hernández’s Hernán Herdez line. The wordvueltameans “turn” in Spanish, and that’s reflected in the studs’ shape. “One faces up and one faces down, and they curve slightly into the ear, around the lobe,” Holland explains. You do need to have two piercings next to each other to get the full effect: “The optical illusion makes them just weird enough that people stop and comment, but they can still blend in with almost any other earrings.” Holland picked up her pair around a decade ago and says they look just as good now as when she first got them.

Almost all of Hernán Herdez’s earrings are available in either gold-plated brass,vermeil, or sterling silver. (There’s a separatefine lineon that site — these pieces are made from solid gold.) Just note: The silver can become tarnished after much wear, but it polishes up easily (you can read ourguide to cleaning silverfor reference).

Nearly every single day a Hernán Herdez Piedra is in each ofSaloonfounderJulia Harrison’s ears. Like the Vueltas, the Piedras have a rather organic shape, “almost like silver beads of sweat” she says. The studs are sold individually, in either a circle or oval shape, or as an irregular set — making them easy to replace should you lose one. And while they’re made from sterling silver, Harrison hasn’t felt the need to polish them — unless she’s been to a hot spring or used a sulfur face wash, “which obviously turns them black immediately.” Her solution is a bit ofWright’s(which is generally cheaper at your local hardware store, she points out).

When I askedKelsey Keith, brand creative director forHerman Miller, about her favorite stud earrings, she quickly replied with one word: “Quarry.” Keith describes the brand’s designs as “well-priced for solid-gold studs — which have gotten ungodly expensive — and directional enough to be interesting but plain enough for everyday wear.” Over the last five years, she’s been wearing the Scale in the second piercing on her right ear. She likes its raised profile, “which gives a sculptural quality” that’s still tiny. ThePennis her latest buy — you can get the stud as a single that’s designated for your left or right ear, or in a pair — and she’s eyeing thePom Pomnext.

Agmes makes very architectural pieces, andElizabeth Cardinal Tamkin, writer of the newsletterThe Corner Boothand content director atKule, describes the brand’s Gia studs as “shockingly impactful, sleek, and modern.” Made from recycled sterling silver (as almost all of Agmes’ pieces are), the studs are done in an organic shape — each reminds me of a pebble you’d find on a coastline. Tamkin thinks they’re bold enough to wear alone in the ear rather than in a second, third, or fourth hole. Even though she’s not one for silver, she has worn them often since getting them more than three years ago.

As a complement to her moreminimalist clothing tastes, Strategist contributorMya Gelbergoes all out with “’80s-inspired big grandma” earrings, including these ones with a ripple effect that would look at home on aMiami Viceextra. They’re a replacement for an Art Deco revival-stylepair Gelber got from her grandmother, which recently broke, and Gelber likes that they are bold while being “easy to style.” They’re available in both “small” and “oversized” sizes.

I think the Pinprick Studs are another welcome into the world of diamonds, especially for the price point, with the single earring starting at $148. These are much smaller than a traditional solitaire, and that makes them all the more precious to me. You might not see a stud on first glance or even the second. Because there are no prongs on each diamond — a post, made from 14-karat yellow gold, is holding it in place — they appear to be floating in your ear. Plus, you can really play around with where they go; a row of them on an ear might look like a constellation.

Until recently, our junior writer,Bella Druckman, had been wearinggold-platedearrings — but they were increasingly irritating her earlobes. Catbird’s solid-gold Flat Back Petite Angel Hair Stud (andBig Never-Ending Hoops) have “fixed the problem.” In fact, she keeps the studs in all the time. Since they’re flat-backed, she doesn’t worry about them poking her, either. It can take a little practice to get the flat back in. (Per Catbird’s instructions: “To put a flat back on, insert the backing first and then fasten in place with the front of the earring. Give a little push to make sure it’s properly closed.”) “It’s not too hard with a mirror, but it takes me a few minutes if there’s no mirror,” Druckman adds. “But once they’re in, they’re in!” Each Angel Hair has a round brilliant-cut white diamond that measures around 0.026 carats (for comparison’s sake, the Diamond Pinprick is approximately .04 carats).

Laurie Fleming deals in forms you’ll find in the woods, frommagnolia branchestocherry blossoms— and everything she does is justreallypretty. I own these studs, which resemble a just-bloomed flower with a diamond nestled between the petals. Like the Pinprick Stud (mentioned earlier here), the Dewdrop Rose Stud is delicate and fine, down to the edges of each petal. I like to have the studs next to each other in an ear for a garden of my own.

Sandeep Salter, owner ofSalter House, introduced me to the natural designs of Minnesotan maker Ruby Pierce (whose founder, Lucinia Estep, lives in a farmhouse on theoutskirts of St. Louis). The brand’s earrings are handmade with semiprecious stones likerose-cut labradorite,cabochon turquoise, andwatermelon tourmaline. Salter likes the slightly “medieval” look of these studs, which feature sterling silver and metallicmarcasite. Because of thepavésetting, Salter says, the earrings give off a “beautiful sparkle.” (A tip that Salter received from Estep herself: Gently scrubbing the earrings with a soft toothbrush will help keep them shiny.)

You can’t go wrong with American Pearl, founded in the Diamond District back in 1950, for your pearls. The studs here feature Akoya pearls from Japan (Tiffany’sandMikimotouse these too). Tamkin has owned hers for more than a decade. That’s even more impressive when considering she puts them on every other week. She wears them with everything from track pants to a cardigan. “The contrast works perfectly, and they’re not too fussy,” she says.

Theegg shapeis a signature motif for designerSophie Buhai, and it’s featured in the tiniest form on these studs. They hang low on the lobe, according toFran Miller, founder ofF. Miller, “creating a teardrop.” The size — small and light on the ears — makes for a good not-too-dainty everyday earring. “I pretty much wear them daily,” says Miller, who bought them several months ago and rarely takes them off. “I don’t really remove my studs so, for me, the perfect earring is one I can sleep in comfortably,” she explains. These are available in sterling silver ($350 per pair) and vermeil ($425 per pair), and Miller says the gold on hers has held up well so far.

“I’ve been buying Jennifer Meyer’s jewelry ever since she was just ‘the woman who was Tobey Maguire’s wife,’” says Hannah Selinger, author ofCellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbellyand the forthcomingValley of the Moms. These days, you’ll see the longtime loyalist in the label’s turquoise studs, which feature abezel settingand 18-karat yellow gold. The understated, comfortable, go-with-everything style is ideal for everyday wear. (Meyer makes the earrings inlapisandopalas well.)

I heard about Valerie Madison’s Pearl Squiggle Studs from a jewelry collector named Xarissa, who goes by the handle@jewelboxingonline. The squiggle looks almost like it’s wriggling on the ear, and she likes wearing them in a second piercing, as they are small but nottiny, so “you get a lot of ‘look.’” And “they’re just interesting enough to make people take a second look,” she says. The 14-karat solid-gold earrings come with a pearl,emerald, orsapphireon one end of the swirl and a diamond on the other. “Just be aware of the stone you pick if you’re hard on your jewelry,” she warns, as you shouldn’t shower with a pearl, while a more “durable stone like a sapphire will be fine for basically anything.”

Xarissa bought these 18-karat yellow-gold lemon earrings from Sorellina’s Italian-themedDieci collectionas a birthday gift to herself, and they’ve since become one of her most-worn pairs; because they are neither tiny nor oversize, she can easily switch between wearing them in her first and second piercings. They have lots of shine, with small diamonds dotting the leaves, but they are also fairly low-maintenance — a pair she can leave in for a week while on vacation somewhere warm.

TheseAnna Sheffieldstuds are a favorite of Fabiana Faria, co-founder ofComing Soon, who received them as a “getting-married gift” from wifeHelena Barquet. “You get to set it and forget it,” Faria explains. “You won’t want to change it.” Sold as either a single (for $350) or a pair (for $700), the earrings have an emerald in the middle surrounded by champagne diamonds set in recycled 14-karat yellow or rose gold. The pair is an “investment that you won’t tire of,” Faria says. “If you wear it every day, you might as well splurge on it.”

It wasn’t until moving to Los Angeles that Fanny Singer, founder ofPermanent Collectionand co-author oftheGreen Spoonnewsletter, found out about “local treasure” Kathryn Bentley, who’s most-known for making custom pieces. But Singer fell for the ready-made Dot Studs. These are “the perfect little rounds,” set in 14-karat gold, and Singer’s feature green sapphires. (You can chooseyellow,orange,blue, orpinksapphires too.) “The color of the sapphires is mercurial and beautiful and changes in different lights,” Singer says. She wears the two studs in one ear — she has three piercings in each — scattering in “some other little sold gold bits and bars” as well.

You probably haven’t seen turquoise quite like this before: powdery blue, sourced from a mine in Kazakhstan. “The color is called ‘lavender turquoise’ — who could resist a stone with that name?” Singer says. Tiles of the turquoise and gold make for a pinwheel pattern that’s “a little evocative of the design of Ray and Charles Eames.” The earrings are available in ten-karat yellow gold and rose gold, or 18-karat yellow gold and rose gold. And though “they play nice with other studs,” these are a statement in themselves. (They are also available in a traditionalKingman turquoise.)

Beyond theVictorian frog stickpinsandGeorgian parrot fobsat Erie Basin, owner Russell Whitmore has theEB Modernfine-jewelry line. It “frequently quotes antique motifs,” asErie Basin explains— like the question mark (which itself isn’t unlike modelGibson Girl’scoiffure) in Art Nouveau jewelry. I had tried to get a jewelry piece with a question mark for years (there’s a lot of symbolism in the humble punctuation), and I couldn’t help myself here. Fine jewelry can feelveryserious, but this doesn’t. The earrings are beautifully made, with brilliant-cut diamonds that twinkle in the platinum setting. It’s the most I’ve ever spent on a single piece of jewelry, but they’ve paid for themselves already in wears over the course of a year. (I have thesizethat measures 17 x 7 mm. while this XL version is 21 x 8.5 mm.)

Antiques dealerErica Weinerrarely wears contemporary jewelers (excluding her ownoriginals, of course), but makes an exception forPolly Wales. The jeweler is famous for her “perfectly imperfect” style and uses what she calls acast-not-set technique— where gemstones are placed right into molten gold — seen here with rainbow sapphires looking “like shiny dinosaur bones poking out of the earth,” according to Weiner. “No one else is doing this, or doing it well, because it’s a pain-in-the-ass process,” Weiner adds. Each earring is an objet d’art in itself and one-of-a-kind down to the placement and color of the stones. So while these are on the splurge side, you’re getting a real one-off. “As a person who makes jewelry, and who sees alotof the same styles over and over again, I was thrilled to see someone doing something truly unique,” Weiner explains.

Weiner owns a number of studs from Wwake, including the Column stud; her exact stud combines brilliant-cut and baguette-cut diamonds, but it’s since sold out. You can pick between tourmaline and opal or tourmaline and diamonds in this version. The brand’s earrings are sold as a single ($465) or in a pair ($930), and the label was one of the first to offer curated mix-and-match“pairings,” according to Weiner. They feature 14-karat recycled solid gold, as does most of the brand’s collection. Weiner likes that the designs are a little less “dainty” and more “painterly,” toeing “the line between architectural, mathematically precise geometry and riotous organic forms with shimmying chains and lumpy pearls.”