Pick how wide the hoop sits, plain gold or diamonds, then the karat and how it closes
Choose the size first, in millimeters across. Every pair here is gold, 14K on 60 of the 66 and 18K on the other six. A plain 14K hoop of 15 mm is the everyday pair, and it was the one bought most here. Read the grams too, since two hoops of one size can hold very different gold, and the heavier one keeps its round. For diamonds close to the lobe, take a small huggie. Ask us how a pair closes before you pay.
Millimeters across: what size hoop earrings to buy
Start at 15 to 20 mm across for a pair worn every day. A hoop that size sits on the lobe without swinging, and most of our buyers stop there or go smaller. Below 15 mm, the hoop hugs the lobe. At 25 to 30 mm, a hoop shows clearly from across a table. From 40 mm up, the hoop is the whole look. Some listings give inches, and an inch is about 25 mm. Where a listing gives no size, ask the live chat for it, or text the desk at 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.
Plain gold or diamond: 14K gold hoops or diamond hoop earrings
Buy a plain gold hoop for the pair you never take off. Most hoop buyers take plain gold, about six pairs in ten. Every plain hoop is 14K, and all but the two-tone come in yellow gold alone. Check the grams on a plain hoop before you choose it. Look at our plain hoops near 25 mm across. The lightest weighs 1.20 g. Another carries three times that gold. The heavier hoop keeps its round and shrugs off a knock, where a light one can dent if it is squeezed.
Huggies: small diamond huggie earrings that hug the lobe
Take a huggie for diamonds that sit close. It is a small, thick hoop that hugs the lobe with almost no gap, and ours run about 13 to 15 mm across. Nearly half the diamond pairs bought were under 15 mm. They wear well stacked beside a stud. Most are prong-set, and one channel pair holds its stones between two gold walls.
The diamonds: lab-grown or natural diamond hoops, and what pt means
Every diamond hoop here names its origin on the listing, 33 natural and 16 lab-grown. Lab-grown stones are diamond through and through, and only a lab instrument separates them from mined ones. Our lab-grown and natural article shows how. In a title, pt stands for points, and one point is a hundredth of a carat. Check with us whether it counts each stone or the whole pair. Most diamond hoops print a color and clarity grade: 45 of the 49 give a color, from E to K.
Gold and closure: 14K or 18K hoops, and how a hoop closes
Take 14K. It is hard enough to keep a hoop round and its hinge tight, and nearly all our hoops are made in it. The six 18K pairs are all diamond hoops, richer in gold and softer, for a pair worn gently. For white or rose gold, look to the diamond hoops. Most come in white, and about half add rose. A hoop closes with a hinged post that clicks into its back, or a fine wire that slides into the tube. Few listings name which, so ask us before you order. Nearly every diamond hoop here also sits in our women's diamond earrings, with the studs and flowers.