Pick the shape first. A cube is a small block of gold with flat faces that stands off the lobe, and a pillow is a square with soft corners and a domed top. The little 10K cube sold most in the year by far. Then choose the face size, since anything under 9 mm wears like a plain stud. Before you pay, ask the live chat what back the pair has.
Cube or pillow: men's cube earrings and diamond pillow earrings
A cube is a little block that sits out from the lobe, so its sides catch light along with its face. A pillow is a square with rounded corners and a puffed top, and it lies closer to the ear. Two titles say cube. Four say pillow, among them a single earring.
The rest go by other names. The halo and the cluster are flat square studs whose small stones read as one face from across a room. Five prong-set pairs name no shape, so judge those by the photos.
The cube sold most in the year, about two of every three pieces. The pillows sold a handful, yet took over a quarter of the sales.
Face size: cube earring sizes in mm, small studs to statement pillows
Read the width first. A face under 9 mm wears like an ordinary stud. The cube that sold most is the smallest, at 5.5 mm. About half the listings sit between 9 and 11 mm. The widest pillows reach 12 and 16 mm, and those are statement pieces.
Most pairs weigh under 5 grams in all and sit upright. The heaviest, 6.8 grams and up, tip forward on a soft lobe and want a screw back.
Diamonds: carat weight and clarity in pillow and cube diamond earrings
Every listing carries natural round diamonds, by its own details. A pair's carat weight covers both ears, so each ear holds about half, except on the single pillow. Weights run from about a third of a carat to almost four.
Four listings are paved, with tiny stones held close by beads of gold. Ten hold each stone in small claws, called prongs, which let in more light.
Seven listings grade VS2. Six more grade SI1, and at these sizes both look clean to the eye.
Gold: 10K, 14K or 18K gold cube earrings, yellow, white and rose
Choose 14K for everyday wear, the gold on eleven listings. 18K, a deeper yellow and a little softer, is on three. 10K is the hardest and palest, and only the cube that sold most comes in it.
Nearly every listing comes in all three golds. The 10K cube is yellow or white only, and one prong pair cannot be ordered in rose today.
Backs and returns: screw backs for heavy cube and pillow earrings
No listing names its back. A screw back threads onto a grooved post and holds a heavy face upright, while a push back slides off faster. Ask which one a pair wears before you pay.
You have fourteen calendar days from delivery to send a pair back unworn and unaltered, in its box. Message customer service for approval first, at service@traxnyc.com or 212-391-3832, and it travels under the store's return label. Five percent is held for restocking, and the return shipping is taken out too. Pieces made or altered to order are final (refund policy). For anything else, the live chat answers first, and you can call or text 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.