14K Gold Mabe Pearl & Diamond Earrings - 76 Diamonds, 20mm

Mabe Pearl and Diamond Earrings - Large Teardrops in a Full Halo

A pear-shaped mabe pearl on each ear, roughly 20 x 14mm, sitting in a plain yellow gold bezel and ringed by a continuous halo of round diamonds - seventy-six across the pair, hand-set with the larger stones at the point and finer ones down the shoulders. The pearl surface is a soft cream white with the satin, low-glare lustre that big domed nacre gives. The pair weighs 10.3 grams in 14k solid gold, on posts with hinged omega clips behind.

A mabe is a blister pearl: instead of forming loose inside the oyster, it grows against the inner shell, so it comes out as a dome rather than a sphere and is finished with a flat back before setting. That is worth saying plainly, because it is the reason a pearl this size is wearable at all - a genuine round pearl at 20mm would be an extraordinary object, and this is something different and more honest, a large expanse of real nacre at a scale nobody could otherwise put on an ear. What you are buying is presence: two centimetres of pearl surface, framed in diamonds, with the weight sitting on a clip rather than dragging on a post.

FAQs

1. What is a mabe pearl?
A pearl grown against the inner shell of the mollusc rather than loose inside it, so it forms as a dome and is finished with a flat back. Real nacre, real growth - a different shape, and a different price, from a round pearl of the same width. Being domed is exactly why a pearl this size is wearable.

2. How large are they?
Each pearl is about 20 x 14mm, with the diamond halo around it - so each earring covers most of the lobe. These are an occasion pair.

3. How many diamonds?
Seventy-six across the pair, thirty-eight to each earring, graduated so the larger stones sit at the point of the teardrop. Approximately 1.2 carat in total.

4. How do they fasten, and are they heavy?
A post through the ear with a hinged omega clip that closes behind the lobe. That clip is doing real work at 10.3 grams for the pair: it spreads the weight across the back of the lobe instead of hanging it all on the post, which is why large earrings of this era were built this way.

5. How should they be looked after?
More carefully than the diamonds suggest. Put them on after perfume and hairspray, wipe the pearl with a soft damp cloth afterwards, never use an ultrasonic cleaner and never let them soak - water can reach the join at the back of a mabe. Store flat in a soft pouch. For the gold, see our Gold Care Card.

How to Style the Mabe Pearl Halos

These are the boldest pair in the collection and want an outfit that stands back - plain black, ivory, deep navy, hair up, no necklace. Traditional bridal styling, but they carry an evening dress just as well. Explore the full 14k and 18k Gold collection, browse more Earrings, or visit JewelBuild™.