Which heart to give, a diamond for every day or her birthstone, and how big to go
Decide first whether the heart is diamond or her birthstone. For a pair she wears every day, take a diamond heart stud. The diamond halo hearts sold most in the year, more than half of all the pairs that went out. For a birthday, give her month's stone. Every pair is 14K gold, and the everyday heart is 6 mm across. Ask how much diamond sits in each ear before you pay.
Which heart: diamond heart studs, clusters or birthstone hearts
For a pair she wears every day, buy a diamond heart stud. The two pairs that sold most in the year set small round natural diamonds in a heart-shaped halo.
A cluster heart fills the outline with tiny diamonds, so it looks bigger than its carat weight. A heart cut is one diamond shaped like a heart in each ear. The colored hearts do the same with a gemstone, and they are half the pairs here.
Diamonds: lab-grown or natural heart shaped diamond earrings
Choose natural for a mined stone and lab-grown for a bigger heart. Eight diamond pairs are natural. The lab-grown listings carry the most diamond, up to 4 carats. Each kind is diamond. A mined one is rarer, and a grown one comes larger and cleaner. More grown pairs wait on lab-grown diamond earrings.
Look at the shape before the size. The two lobes should match and the cleft between them should be crisp. Near half a carat a stone, the outline reads clearly. A title's carat count may add both earrings together, so ask how much sits in each ear.
Birthstones: garnet, peridot, topaz and other heart gemstone earrings
Give her month's stone when the earrings are for a birthday. Ten pairs set one colored heart in each ear. Garnet sold most of them in the year, then peridot and the two blue topaz pairs.
On the usual chart, garnet is January, amethyst February and aquamarine March. Peridot is August, pink tourmaline October and citrine November, and blue topaz is often given for December. Morganite and white topaz are picked for color alone. Every month is in birthstones by month, with more pairs on birthstone earrings.
Size and gold: heart stud size in mm, yellow, white or rose gold
Take a 6 mm heart for every day. It reads as a heart from a few feet away and still sits neat on the lobe. The natural heart cuts are smaller, at 5 mm. The clusters and the bigger diamond hearts run 7 to 11 mm. Every pair is light, under 2.5 grams.
Each pair is 14K gold in yellow or white, and the colored hearts and natural heart cuts add rose. White gold keeps blue and clear stones crisp. Rose warms pink tourmaline, and yellow flatters garnet and citrine.
Backs and care: screw back or push back heart studs
Ask which back a pair has before you order. Only one listing names it, the 9 mm diamond halo hearts, on screw back posts. A screw back winds along threads cut into the post and holds all day, while a push back slips off sooner.
Prongs hold the stones on nearly every pair, so look them over now and then. A bent prong can loosen a heart. Some pairs are made after you order, so ask how soon yours ships. The live chat answers first, or call or text 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.