Asymmetric Opal and Diamond Stud Earrings

[liaerfbv]

Well, @yssie made me do it.

I've been planning a large diamond stud upgrade in 2019 for a year or so now, but I could never pull the trigger on a new pair. I saw Yssie's new dreamy AF opal dangles and my mind start spinning. I've always kinda browsed past opals, to be honest, and never gave them much thought. First I spent days, weeks, countless hours browsing on M's Opal World and Black Opals Direct - mostly just to educate myself. Truly, I think I still know "nothing" about opals, but I learned what my eyes like, which is apparently crystal opals. I ordered a few cheapies off Etsy to check myself, and then began the search for my crystal opals in earnest. At this point, I knew I wanted earrings, but I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted studs, dangles, halos, or what. I only knew they needed to be asymmetric and include diamonds in some way. Shout out to Jordy at M's Opal World who I messaged with several times - he was a delight as always and I highly recommend him and his shop.

I eventually ended up with 2 crystal opals from Black Opal Direct, and Justin and Ruth were equally wonderful to work with. My opals weren't the biggest or most expensive, but when I asked if one stone could slightly be polished down - it was literally done in like 48 hours I think! Shipping from Australia was also super reasonable and very fast.

The opals:

Stone #1
Crystal Opal
7mm x 6mm (pic is pre 2nd polish, stone was originally 7.5mm x 6mm)


Stone #2
Crystal Opal
7mm x 6mm


Stones arrived and I was obsessed. I then decided in the middle of the night, as I do, exactly how they should be set. Studs, with carre cut diamonds and an OEC. Totally different and wonky. I found some suitable stones on Ebay (My Diamond Zone for the carre parcel and rando seller for the OEC). I sent my hand drawn sketch to DK and approved the 2nd CADs, and 3 weeks later, I am the proud owner of the strangest "pair" of earrings that I'm going to wear everyday forever.



Specs:
2 crystal opals .82ct and .76ct with
.26ct L VS2 OEC diamond and .20tcw G/H VS2 carre cut diamonds, set in 18K yellow gold and 14K white gold

More pics to follow...

 

[liaerfbv]

CADs and mock up of stone pre-setting, also loose pic of stones

 

[liaerfbv]

Glamour shot from DK:

 

[liaerfbv]

And my attempts at decent ear shots -- it's so hard to get ear selfies.











I know my strange unmatching studs aren't to everyone's taste, but I deeply deeply love them. They are just quirky enough for me! Sadly, I'm having a difficult time capturing the colors I see in pics, but they are like neon disco balls on the ears as I move around. I wore them to the doctor this morning and got 3 compliments - not bad for a first outing, haha.

 

[liaerfbv]

Also - credit to JbG for the round stone with carre cut idea. She made a similar style pair of earrings years ago, which I ordered and returned, but that design element always stuck with me.

 

[tyty333]

What fun! I love the asymmetrical look! They are adorable!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Oh I LOVE a unique piece! Great job!

 

[Bonfire]

They look adorable on you!

 

[GliderPoss]

I absolutely love these! What a fabulous non-matchy pair of earrings.

 

[crystalinmke]

wont lie, these make me wanna pierce my ears again. they are GORGEOUS and i love the opals especially in the rose gold.

 

[Bron357]

I LOVE them.
Opals are just magic. I’ve been a lifelong fan of Opals. My most favorite gemstone.
Wear them with joy. And who cares what others think! Be you, be fabulous.

 

[ForteKitty]

My mouth fell open when I saw these because they are so awesome. I adore the mismatched look!!

 

[HNGN]

They are both so pretty!!! I love how different yet similar they are...
I usually wear different earrings together too...

 

[arkieb1]

Very cool, congrats - it's always great to see more opals on here!!!!

 

[suzanne2]

Like you, I've always just scrolled past the opals in the past. Opening your thread, I couldn't picture how on earth they would look but when I got to the ear shots - WOW!! They are stunning! What a fantastic idea. Beautiful!!

 

[meely]

They are so funky, love the cool mismatched settings they look beautiful on your ears!

 

[missy]

Love them on you @liaerfbv

 

[Weeivy73]

These are sooooooooo cool! Beautiful colours and such a neat look. Well done!

 

[Queenie60]

Very clever and lovely on your ears. Just love opals.

 

[ZestfullyBling]

Lovely opals, lovely diamonds. Neat idea. They both Look lovely on you, congrats!!

 

[yssie]

Goodness I am delighted to have been one of your inpsirations!! And those crystal beauties are glorious and I LOVE what you’ve done with the different shapes and accent offsets!!

They look deliberately-mismatched-but-clearly-a-pair which was exactly what you were going for if I understood correctly congrats!!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

And my attempts at decent ear shots -- it's so hard to get ear selfies.











I know my strange unmatching studs aren't to everyone's taste, but I deeply deeply love them. They are just quirky enough for me! Sadly, I'm having a difficult time capturing the colors I see in pics, but they are like neon disco balls on the ears as I move around. I wore them to the doctor this morning and got 3 compliments - not bad for a first outing, haha.

as i suspected they look a heck of a lot better (and i mean they look Fabulouse ) than they did in my mind
enjoy
looking at them fills my heart with joy

 

[yssie]

Came back for another look

I don’t have any crystal opals but I love how you photographed them on different backgrounds - it really shows off how they change!

Do your opals shift dramatically in different lights? Mine do... what’s your favourite lighting type? Do you have a favourite stone?

 

[LLJsmom]

They’re just cool!! Congratulations on an awesome project completed. Seriously they look great on you.

 

[Dandi]

I love these!! SO fabulous!

 

[liaerfbv]

Thanks all for the kind words!! I love them so much and they turned out just the way I imagined them - I find myself reaching for them everyday. I'm going to ask my husband to try and take some ear shots in better light this weekend because my poor pitiful ear shots do nothing to show off the fabulous colors of the opals.

@yssie - I must say I'm very pleased you like them since your project inspired them (on a much smaller scale!). This is my first outing with opals, so to speak, so I'm still learning how they look in different lights, and since I'm 8 months pregnant, sadly most of my time is currently spent at home, or at the doctor, or in baby classes , but so far I think I prefer them in diffused lighting. In direct sunlight they are a little too translucent, and in florescent light they can get washed out. But even when they look their worst, they are still gorgeous to me. It's hard to choose a fave, but I think I gravitate towards the bluer stone (the one with the carre cuts).

DH is still asking me if I'm going to get "dangly ones like you showed me" so I think it's safe to say I'm not going to be done with my newly-acquired opal problem anytime soon!!

 

[Wewechew]

These are so cool!

 

[lydial]

Very creative and very beautiful! Well done!

 

[MMtwo]

Oh, these are wonderful! love the mis-matched unity between the pair.

 

[elizat]

These are fun and really pretty at the same time. I can see why you are so happy with them!