Diamond Stud Earrings, Lab-Grown and Natural

Buyer's guide

How to choose diamond stud earrings

Pick the size of each stone, then grown or mined, the gold, the back and who wears it

Decide the size first. One carat a stone is the pair most people picture, and it was the size bought most here. Take it lab-grown in 14K gold, like nearly every pair sold, in yellow or white to go with the gold you wear most. A round stone is the safe cut. Before you pay, ask us which back the pair wears, since no listing says.

Four picks from this page

14K Round Lab-Grown Diamond Studs, 2 ctwThe pair bought most here, 173 in the year. One carat a stone, 6.5 mm across. 14K Lab-Grown Diamond Studs, 1.5 ct eachThe second pair bought most, 67 in the year. A carat and a half on each ear. 14K Round Lab-Grown Diamond Studs, 1 ctwHalf a carat a stone, 55 in the year. The smaller pair to wear every day. 14K Round Lab-Grown Diamond Studs, 6 ctwThree carats a stone, 42 in the year, for a pair that shows across a room.

See your stud size on your ear

Set your screen once with a bank card and the stones below are drawn at their true size. Pick a size; to see it on you, hold the phone beside your ear in a mirror.

1. Set the screen with a card

Lay any bank, debit or ID card flat on the screen, standing tall, so its short edge runs across the box, and move the slider until the box is exactly as wide as the card. No bank card? A driver's license, metro card, gift card or hotel key is the same size.

2. Pick a size, carats a stone

0.1 ct0.3 ct0.35 ct0.4 ct0.5 ct0.6 ct1 ct1.4 ct1.5 ct2 ct3 ct4 ct5 ct

A 1 carat round diamond measures about 6.5 mm across. 5 of the 26 stud pairs here that name a weight are 1 carat a stone, 2 ctw the pair. It is the most bought size here: 39 percent of the stud pairs sold here in the past year that name a weight.

Stud earrings are sold by ctw, the total weight of the pair: half of it sits on each ear, so a 2 ctw pair is two stones of 1 carat. The stones are drawn as round diamonds; at the same weight a princess or emerald cut looks a little smaller and an oval or pear a little longer.

Text this size to the desk

The stud size chart, carats a stone

A stone	The pair	Across, a round diamond	Pairs here
0.1 ct	0.2 ctw	3.0 mm	1
0.3 ct	0.6 ctw	4.3 mm	1
0.35 ct	0.7 ctw	4.5 mm	1
0.4 ct	0.8 ctw	4.8 mm	1
0.5 ct	1 ctw	5.1 mm	3
0.6 ct	1.2 ctw	5.4 mm	2
1 ct	2 ctw	6.5 mm	5
1.4 ct	2.8 ctw	7.2 mm	1
1.5 ct	3 ctw	7.4 mm	3
2 ct	4 ctw	8.1 mm	3
3 ct	6 ctw	9.3 mm	3
4 ct	8 ctw	10.2 mm	1
5 ct	10 ctw	11.0 mm	1

The stones are drawn as round diamonds at the counter's rule of thumb for a well-cut round of that weight, not a listing's measurement. The pairs are the listings live here on September 26, 2026 that name a weight; the most bought size reads the stud pairs sold here in the year to September 25, 2026 that name a weight.

Carats and millimeters: what size diamond studs to buy, and how big 1 carat looks

Start at one carat a stone. It was the size bought most here, and about seven pairs in ten sold carried that much or more. The ctw on a title counts both ears, so halve it for each stone. On the lobe, a stone that size sits about 6.5 mm wide and shows plainly across a table. Half a carat stays small and quiet. From two carats a stone, the diamond fills much of a small lobe. An oval or a pear spreads wider than a round of the same weight, while a princess or an Asscher looks a little smaller. The table runs every size.

Lab-grown or natural: lab grown diamond stud earrings or natural diamond studs

Take lab-grown unless the stone has to come out of the ground. A grown diamond is the same carbon crystal as a mined one, graded the same way. Grown lets you go a size bigger, and mined is the rarer stone. More than four pairs in five here are grown, all in 14K, and nearly every pair bought in the year was grown. Two Asscher pairs say natural in their titles. A few 18K pairs name no clear origin, so ask us about those. The lab-grown and natural guide shows how a jeweler tells them apart.

The gold: 14K white, yellow or rose gold diamond studs

Buy 14K. It is hard enough to keep the prongs tight on a stone you never take out, and every grown pair here is made in it. Only four pairs are 18K. Choose the color on the listing. Most pairs offer yellow, white and rose, and the fancy shapes, from the oval to the butterflies, come in yellow or white. Yellow and white sold close to evenly, and rose was about one pair in twenty. White gold makes a colorless stone look whiter, and yellow warms it slightly.

The back: screw back or push back diamond stud earrings

Take a screw back on studs you sleep and train in. It is a small nut that turns onto a grooved post and cannot slip off. A push back is a clutch that presses on in a second, handy for a pair you take out each night, but its grip weakens as the months pass. The listings here do not say which back a pair ships with, so ask us, and ask whether we can fit the other kind.

Men or women: diamond stud earrings for men, for women and as a gift

A diamond stud is the same earring on any ear. Most pairs here sit in both our men's studs and our women's diamond earrings, and those guides go further into cuts and styles. Seven pairs, the butterflies and the heart among them, sit only in the women's case. On a larger lobe the same stone looks smaller, so many men go up a size. For a gift, take a round pair in 14K white or yellow gold.

Read the full guide

Size: how wide a round stone sits at each carat, and the pairs here in that size

Each stone	Pair total	Across	On the ear	Pairs here
0.10 ct	0.20 ctw	3.0 mm	A pinpoint	1
0.30 to 0.40 ct	0.60 to 0.80 ctw	4.3 to 4.8 mm	Small, quiet	3
0.50 to 0.60 ct	1 to 1.20 ctw	5.2 to 5.4 mm	Everyday	5
1 ct	2 ctw	6.5 mm	The classic	3
1.40 to 1.50 ct	2.80 to 3 ctw	7.2 to 7.4 mm	Bold	4
2 ct	4 ctw	8.2 mm	Big, bright	3
3 ct	6 ctw	9.3 mm	Half the lobe	3
4 to 5 ct	8 to 10 ctw	10.2 to 11 mm	A showpiece	2

Every count on this card is from the 31 pairs live here on September 26, 2026 and what this page sold in the year to that day; prices are on the listings. Across is the usual width of a round stone of that weight. Seven pairs do not say how big each stone is and sit outside the rows.

Questions we get at the counter

What size diamond studs should I buy?

Take one carat a stone if you want the size most people picture. It sits about 6.5 mm across, and it was the size bought most here. For a smaller pair to wear every day, go to half a carat a stone, near 5 mm.

Are lab-grown diamond studs real diamonds?

Yes. A lab-grown diamond is real diamond, carbon in the same crystal as a mined stone, and only a lab machine can tell the two apart. Most pairs here are grown, and nearly every pair sold in the year was too.

What does ctw mean on diamond stud earrings?

It means carat total weight, both diamonds counted as one number. Halve it for each ear, so a 2 ctw pair wears a one-carat stone on each side. Two titles here say only ct, so ask us whether that is the pair or one stone.

More questions we get

Which back holds a diamond stud best?

A screw back holds best. Its nut winds down the post and stays on through sleep and the gym, where a push back works loose with time. No listing here names its back, so ask us which one a pair has.

White, yellow or rose gold for diamond studs?

Match the gold you wear most. Yellow and white sold close to evenly here, and rose trailed far behind. Most pairs let you pick any of the three golds on the listing, and the fancy shapes come in yellow or white.

What color and clarity are these diamonds?

Where a pair prints its grades, they read E or F color and VS clarity nearly every time, colorless to the eye and clean without a loupe. Many listings print no grade, so ask us for it before you buy.

Are these diamond studs for men or for women?

Both. The same pair suits either ear, and most of these sit in our men's and women's cases alike. The butterflies and the heart are made for her. A man with a larger lobe often goes a size up, since the stone reads smaller there.

Can I return a pair of diamond studs?

Yes, inside fourteen calendar days of delivery, for studs never worn or altered. Text 212-872-9692 first, and they travel only on our insured label. A five percent restocking charge and the return shipping come off, per the refund policy. Custom pairs are final.

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Men's diamond stud earringsWomen's diamond stud earringsWomen's diamond earringsAll men's earrings

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