French Backed Earrings

On 1stDibs, there are many options to choose from in our inventory of french backed earrings. Frequently made of Gold, 18k Gold and Yellow Gold, these items were constructed with great care. Our selection of items includes 42 vintage examples as well as 22 contemporary versions. Our inventory has long been popular, and it includes earlier versions that date to the 19th Century and newer variations that were made as recently as the 21st Century. Pieces in our collection of french backed earrings made by Modern jewelers — as well as those associated with Revival — are very popular. Many examples in our inventory of these items are appealing no matter their origins, but Marcello Fontana, Sarosi By Timeless Gems and Georland produced popular versions that are worth a look. Any of these pieces can lend versatility to your look, but Diamond versions, from our inventory of 33, are particularly popular. A selection of round cut, french cut and brilliant cut can be found today on these pages. If you’re browsing the variety of french backed earrings for sale, you’ll find that many are available today for women, but there are still pieces to choose from for men.

Prices for french backed earrings start at $211 and top out at $41,122 with these earrings, on average, selling for $2,050.

In the United States, ear piercing didn’t really become popular until the 1950s and ‘60s, but our desire for a dazzling pair of vintage earrings has deeper roots than that. In fact, wearing earrings actually goes back thousands of years, and you can find many tangible connections between now and then in how we continue to talk about these treasured accessories.

Women wore ornamental earrings — studs and hoops at the very least — in Ancient Egypt, which is home to mines that are among the earliest sources of emeralds in the world. Emerald earrings are highly prized today, and their quality lies in their rich, saturated color. The highest-quality emeralds are green or bluish-green. Earrings worn by the affluent in early Roman civilizations were set with precious stones such as diamonds and pearls, and a clean-looking pop of pearl on the front of the lobe is as timeless as ever. Hoop earrings are imbued with symbolism and cultural significance for many, and on view in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Ancient Near Eastern Art Gallery is a pair of simple gold hoops from Mesopotamia dating to between 2600 and 2500 B.C.

Today, ear piercing is very popular all over the world, and, as a result, it is difficult to overstate how much everyone pines for a good pair of earrings — modernist drop earrings, glamorous Victorian hoops, geometrically complex chandelier earrings, you name it. Sure, jewelry trends and the fashion darlings of social media come and go, but earrings have a staying power that seems impenetrable: The still-strong love affair between British royals and Cartier earrings is more than a century old, glossy 1970s hoops from legacy houses such as Bulgari and Van Cleef Arpels remain the statement makers they’ve always been and although people have been stacking earrings for many moons, the allure of an expertly mismatched stack of charms and studs still feels fresh and new.

While there is no shortage of modern earring designs to choose from, the classics, like coral earrings, Art Deco–style earrings and diamond drop earrings are still heavy hitters. On 1stDibs, find a wide range of antique, new and vintage earrings today.