14K Solid Gold Girl Silhouette Drop Earrings - Articulated Pair

Girl Silhouette Drop Earrings - Three Moving Parts in 14k Solid Gold

Each earring is built in three pieces that hang from one another and move independently: a small polished gold ball at the lobe, an open triangle outlined in fine wire below it, and at the bottom a flat silhouette of a girl in profile with her ponytail lifting behind her. Every joint is a separate link, so the drop swings and turns as you walk rather than hanging stiff. It is worked in 14k solid gold throughout, ball, triangle, figure and fittings alike.

The pleasure of this design is the contrast between its three parts. The ball is a mirror; the triangle is pure geometry, all line and empty space; the little figure is soft-edged and softly surfaced, and she is the only curve in the whole earring. Read from the top down it goes from abstract to human in three steps. It is the kind of piece people buy because it looks like someone in particular - a daughter, a granddaughter, a childhood self - which is why a silhouette has always been a more personal object than a portrait. A gift for her that means something specific to the person wearing it.

FAQs

1. Is this a pair or a single earring?
A pair - two matching earrings, as photographed.

2. Do the parts really move?
Yes. The ball, the triangle and the figure are three separate components joined by links, so each one turns on its own. That is what makes the earring catch light continuously rather than in one fixed position, and it is also why the drop always hangs straight however you put it on.

3. What does the silhouette mean?
Whatever you bring to it. Cut-paper silhouettes were the ordinary family's portrait for most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - long before photography, an outline in profile was how you kept somebody's face. Worn now, a girl in profile usually stands for a specific child, or for the wearer at that age. More on how symbols carry meaning at JewelMotif™, and in Why Small Objects Hold Big Emotions.

4. Will they catch on clothing or hair?
The links are closed and the outline has no open hooks or sharp points, so they sit better than most drop earrings around scarves and knitwear. As with any articulated piece, lift them clear before pulling a jumper over your head.

5. How should I clean solid gold with moving joints?
Warm soapy water and a soft brush, working gently around the links where dust collects, then dry fully before storing - trapped moisture in a joint is the one thing that will dull it. Full routine on our Gold Care Card.

6. Why solid gold for a piece that moves this much?
Because movement is exactly what destroys plating, and gold is the one metal that will not corrode at a rubbing joint. Why Gold Became Humanity's Most Precious Metal is the longer version of that answer.

How to Style the Girl Silhouette Drops

These are quiet enough for daily wear and specific enough to be noticed - wear them with hair up so the whole three-part drop is visible, and keep the rest of the ear simple. They sit well beside a plain gold stud in a second hole. Explore the full 14k and 18k Gold collection, browse more Earrings, or visit JewelBuild™ to build a set around them.