Category: Sterling Silver Earrings

Sterling silver earrings in South Africa

Part of the sterling silver collection at Aria Jewellery. Solid 925 silver earrings, made and finished in Cape Town, delivered nationwide.

Twenty-eight pairs of sterling silver earrings from R150 to R3,295. Silver earrings are where most people start, and at these prices you can own several pairs rather than one. Solid silver also matters more here than on any other piece, because the post sits inside the piercing all day.

Silver earring prices by style

Style	What it is	From
Studs	Sit flat on the lobe. Swallows, moons, stars and butterflies.	R150
Threaders	A fine chain that threads through and hangs	R185
Drop earrings	Hang below the lobe with movement	R250
Plain silver studs, 3mm to 6mm	The classic ball or round stud in four sizes	R395
Ear cuffs	No piercing needed, sits on the edge of the ear	R395
Hoops	Small through to oval and chunky	R425
Twist hoops	A twisted profile that catches more light	R655
Stone set drops	Rose quartz, tanzanite and cubic zirconia	R995
Hinged CZ hoops	Click shut, set with cubic zirconia	R2,850

A few pieces here are gold plated over silver rather than plain, and they say so on the product.

How to choose sterling silver earrings

Earrings are the piece people own most of and think about least. A few things decide whether a pair gets worn weekly or once.

Weight, not size. A large hoop in fine silver can be lighter than a small solid stud. Weight is what pulls on the lobe over a long day and what stretches a piercing over years. If you want big earrings you can wear all day, look for hollow or tubular hoops rather than solid ones.

The fastening matters more than the front. Butterfly backs work loose and get lost, which is how single earrings end up in a drawer. Hinged hoops click shut and cannot fall out. If you are buying sterling silver earrings for someone who is careless with jewellery, buy hinged.

Second and third piercings need small. Anything above the lobe has less room and less support. Small hoops, huggies and flat studs sit properly there. Drops and large hoops do not.

Hair and collars. Long hair catches on open hooks and elaborate settings. If that is you, smooth hoops and studs will get worn and everything else will not.

If you have sensitive ears, read the note below on why solid silver behaves differently from plated.

Choosing a hoop size

Size	How it reads	Wears well for
Mini and small	Neat, sits close to the lobe	Every day, work, second piercings
Medium	Visible without being loud	The most worn size, day to evening
Large and oval	A clear statement	Evening, and worn with hair up
Chunky	Thicker profile, more presence	Worn as the only jewellery

If you are buying a first pair of silver hoops, medium is the size that gets worn most.

Studs, hoops, cuffs and drops

Style	Best for	Fastening
Stud	Daily wear, sleeping, under headphones	Butterfly back
Hoop	Everyday through to evening	Post, or hinged which cannot be lost
Ear cuff	Adding to a look without another piercing	Squeezes onto the ear edge
Threader	A fine, moving line down from the lobe	Threads through and hangs
Drop	Evening and occasion	Hook or post

Sterling silver earrings as gifts

Earrings are the easiest jewellery to give and the easiest to get slightly wrong.

There is no sizing. That is the whole advantage. No wrist measurement, no ring size, no guessing. Sterling silver earrings work as a gift for someone whose measurements you do not know.

Check they have pierced ears first. Obvious, and still the most common mistake. If you are not certain, an ear cuff needs no piercing at all and works on any ear.

Buy for what they already wear. Look at what is in their ears now. Someone who wears small studs every day will not start wearing large drops because you bought them. Match the scale of what they already own and go one step up in quality, not size.

Sensitive ears are common. If they have ever complained about earrings hurting, solid sterling silver is the safe choice, because there is no nickel base to react with. Costume and plated earrings are almost always the cause.

Price covers every occasion. R150 is a small thoughtful gift. R595 is a proper one. R2,895 is a milestone. Everything arrives boxed and ready to give.

Silver or gold earrings

The honest answer is that it depends on how often they will be worn and how much you want to think about them.

Sterling silver earrings suit variety. At R150 to R600 you can own six pairs and change them with what you are wearing, which is how most people actually use earrings. The trade-off is tarnish, which takes a minute to reverse but does need doing.

Solid gold earns its place on the pair you never take out. It does not tarnish, it needs no maintenance beyond cleaning, and the posts stay bright inside the piercing indefinitely. That is why most people who wear one pair permanently end up in gold. See gold earrings, from R1,295.

Gold plated over silver gives the gold colour at closer to a silver price. It works well for occasion earrings. It is the wrong choice for a pair worn daily, because the plating wears through on the post first, which is the part sitting inside the piercing. See gold plated earrings.

A practical middle path is solid silver for everyday and one solid gold pair for the ones that stay in.

Explore the collection

Category	What is in it	Pieces
Sterling silver jewellery	The full silver range, every type	166
Gold earrings	Solid 9ct and 18ct gold studs, hoops and huggies	61
Silver chains and necklaces	Curb, figaro, belcher, snake and herringbone	42
Silver rings	Stacking, statement, signet and stone set	38
Silver bracelets	Figaro, herringbone, curb, charm and ID	33
Tanzanite earrings	Set with South Africa’s own stone	2

Reading rather than shopping? See our silver jewellery care guide and gold earrings guide.

Caring for silver earrings so they last

Silver earrings live a harder life than the rest of your jewellery. They sit against skin and hair for hours, they collect hairspray and perfume, and the parts that matter are too small to clean casually.

The posts and backs are where the problem is. Build up there is what causes sore lobes, not the metal itself. Once a week, take them out, run them under warm water with a drop of mild soap, work a soft toothbrush around the post and the butterfly, rinse and dry properly. It takes under a minute and it prevents almost every irritation problem people blame on silver.

Tarnish on the front is cosmetic. A silver polishing cloth removes it. Be gentle around any stone setting, and do not use a cloth on plated pieces, because it will take the plating off.

Store pairs together in a small sealed bag with the air pressed out. Silver tarnishes fastest in open air and in humidity, which matters on the coast. Loose earrings in a dish will tarnish faster and lose backs.

Put earrings in after perfume and hairspray, not before. Those two do more to dull silver than a year of wearing it does.

Wearing and caring for silver earrings

Earrings dull faster than anything else because they sit near your hairline and collect hairspray, perfume and skin oil. Warm water, mild soap, a soft brush and a dry cloth clears it.

Clean the posts and butterfly backs, not just the fronts. That is where build up actually causes irritation, and it takes ten seconds.

Silver darkens over time. A polishing cloth reverses it. Store pairs together in a sealed bag with the air pressed out and they will barely tarnish between wears.

Take hoops and drops out before sleeping and before the gym. A hoop caught in bedding or a collar is the most common way earrings bend.

Delivery

Free insured delivery anywhere in South Africa, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Gqeberha and Bloemfontein. Tracked from our Cape Town workshop to your door.

Questions

Keep looking

More earrings. Gold earrings, tanzanite earrings, gold plated earrings and all earrings.

More silver. Sterling silver jewellery, silver chains, silver rings, silver bracelets and silver bangles.

Guides. Silver care guide and gold earrings South Africa.

Also worth a look. Personalised jewellery, gold jewellery and engagement rings.

Or start from the Aria Jewellery homepage.