Sapphire Earring Charms
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Contemporary Charm Bracelets
Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Contemporary Dangle Earrings
Diamond, Pink Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Indian Stud Earrings
Diamond, Pink Sapphire, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Artisan Dangle Earrings
Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Contemporary Stud Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Art Deco Dangle Earrings
Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Indian Stud Earrings
Diamond, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold
Recent Sales
Early 2000s American Contemporary Dangle Earrings
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Dangle Earrings
Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
2010s Dangle Earrings
Blue Sapphire, Sterling Silver
2010s Dangle Earrings
Blue Sapphire, Sterling Silver
2010s Drop Earrings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sterling Silver
2010s Drop Earrings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary British Stud Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Thai Artisan Drop Earrings
Diamond, Pink Sapphire, Turquoise, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Dangle Earrings
Sapphire, 22k Gold
2010s American Contemporary Stud Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold
2010s British Contemporary Drop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Sapphire Earring Charms For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Sapphire Earring Charms?
The Legacy of Sapphire in Jewelry Design
On 1stDibs, shop the bright blue gems that star in sapphire rings, sapphire necklaces and other vintage and antique sapphire jewelry.
Sapphires — the stone of choice for Napoleon, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor — have been a favorite of aristocrats and the well-to-do since the time of the Ancient Greeks.
Picture a sapphire. If the stone you conjure is a deep cornflower blue, you’re seeing only part of the picture. Although blue Kashmirs are considered the most valuable, sapphires come in every color except red. No matter the hue, this very special gem is rich in history and beloved by royals (FYI, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton share an 11-carat sapphire engagement ring), so September babies are in very noble company.
America’s version of royalty — old money and celebrities — have also shown a predilection for the blue stones. In 1940, John D. Rockefeller Jr. had Cartier mount a 62-carat sapphire he had bought from an Indian maharajah in a brooch for his first wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; in 2001, the piece sold for a then-record of $3,031,000 at Christie’s New York.
The grand dame of jewelry, Elizabeth Taylor had a passion for the gems that her lovers were happy to indulge. Second husband Michael Wilding gave her an engagement ring set with a cabochon sapphire, while Richard Burton famously presented her with a BVLGARI sautoir set with diamonds and sapphires, including at its center a cabochon Burmese weighing 52.72 carats. One of the star lots in the sale of Taylor’s jewels at the Christie’s New York in 2011, it sold for $5,906,500.
You don’t have to have blue blood or a bulging bank account, however, to get an eyeful of this much-coveted gem. A number of outstanding examples reside in public collections.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History owns the 423-carat Logan sapphire, a gift from the Guggenheim family, and the Hall sapphire and diamond necklace, designed by Harry Winston and featuring 36 fine, well-matched cushion-cut Sri Lankan sapphires weighing a combined 195 carats. Also in the collection is the Bismarck sapphire necklace, designed by Cartier and sporting a central sapphire weighing 98.6 carats, which Mona Von Bismarck donated to the museum.
Sapphires are composed of corundum. Their color derives from trace elements, such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper or magnesium. When the trace element produces a ruby hue, the stone is called, what else, a ruby. (which is, as mentioned above, why sapphires cannot be red by definition).
The allure of large gemstones endures throughout the periods characterized as vintage, and sapphire features frequently in vintage engagement rings. (On 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings.)
Find an exquisite collection of vintage and antique sapphire jewelry on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Earrings for You
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.
- 1stDibs ExpertDecember 12, 2023Whether you can put charms on hoop earrings depends on their design. If you like the idea of customizing your hoops with charms, look for hoops intended specifically for this purpose. With other hoops, the thickness of the metal and the type of clasp will determine whether or not you can add charms. Explore a large selection of hoop earrings on 1stDibs.
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