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Interchangeable earring dangles?

Ally66

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Hi, all! Wondering if anyone can help me with this -- sometime in the last couple of years there was a thread about gemstone charms/dangles, interchangeable, that can be worn on hoop earrings. There's a specific British company, if I recall correctly, that several people had purchased from. Does this ring a bell for anyone?
Thanks!
 

Ally66

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That's it!! Thanks so much! :appl:
 

MollyMalone

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Newman Marcus carries the Kiki McDonough drops for the same price, or very close to it, as the price posted on KM's web site + KM's international FedEx shipping charge of nearly $60. And Neiman Marcus offers free returns.
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Kiki-McDonough/Designers/cat46520802/c.cat

Biut honestly -- unless the KM brand name matters to you -- I don't think you should have to pay $1195 for plain gold drops with 10 mm amethyst, citrine or blue topaz stones.
 

Ally66

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Thanks for the info, Molly! And yes -- along with the name, I had forgotten the price tag that comes with these earrings! They are lovely, but I am definitely not committed to the name. I've tried to search for similar options and may not be using the right terms (dangles, charms, interchangeable). Please feel free to share if you know of options!
 

wildcat03

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I can't search for the thread, but I think Jambalaya had some earring drops that she had purchased. I think she eventually returned them, but you could look for her thread.
 

diamondseeker2006

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These are not cheap, but the designer Jude Frances has gorgeous earring charms and hoops. I really hope to get a set of the turquoise and gold.

http://www.judefrances.com/
 

MollyMalone

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wildcat03|1459822366|4015516 said:
I can't search for the thread, but I think Jambalaya had some earring drops that she had purchased. I think she eventually returned them, but you could look for her thread.
I think Jambalaya now has a pair of the Kiki MacD dangles, but here's the thread where she posted her first purchases of inexpensive versions & the link to her UK source for those:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/detachable-gem-drops-with-diamond-hoops.213211/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/detachable-gem-drops-with-diamond-hoops.213211/[/URL]

My thought was you could purchase a pair of calibrated, colored stones & have a local jeweler put them into stock mountings from, e.g., Stuller. But it looks to me if you use interchangeable earring charms as a search phrase you'll get a number of "hits" -- although many of them are silver or rhodium-plated silver, so add gold to the search phrase if you want to narrow the focus.
 

Ally66

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Thanks everyone! Those threads are helpful, VRB. And oh dear, DS -- Jude Frances! She has a LOT of beautiful pieces. And her hoops -- I didn't know such lovely variations are out there! Molly, I think your idea is a good one, and definitely would be a way to get exactly what I want.

I'm working with some small, simple yellow gold hoops that came with big (11mm) white pearl dangles, and thought it would be fun to have some other options to wear with them. I'll share if I end up finding or making anything! Thanks again!
 

Jambalaya

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Sorry I'm late to this thread! Unfortunately, I do not have any of the Kiki gemstone drops. I go back and forth about it, but will probably stick with my inexpensive versions from Heavenly Necklaces, which are really about 90% the same.

I do, however, have some of the Kiki detachable pearl drops, which were much cheaper I will post shortly in the pearl forum.

DS, I also love Jude Frances and I have my eye on the rose quartz pear-shape drops and the turquoise eggs with the gold criss-cross. Yummy!

I want to point out that it's still cheaper to get Kiki items from Kiki rather than Neiman Marcus because Kiki takes off the 20% sales tax. The Neiman price is also plus US sales tax. Kiki charges a fortune for shipping - 40 pounds, about 65 dollars. Basically, the cheapest way to get Kiki is to order it from Berry's Jewellers in the UK. Their shipping is only 25 pounds and they take the 20% sales tax off, too.

Plus, Kiki has an arrangement with Fedex where you are guaranteed to automatically get charged the 7% import tax, and Berry's doesn't have that arrangement because they don't use Fedex. With Berry's, you only get charged that tax if the customs people open your package, and they don't open them all. Also, you are supposed to only get charged 7% if the value of your item exceeds $2,000, but with Kiki you'll pay the 7% regardless. Berry's is definitely the way to go for Kiki stuff. Cheaper shipping, 20% off, and no 7% import charge can add up to a three-figure saving, as it did for me when I ordered my green amethyst pear earrings and bee necklace at the same time.

I found out all this when I ordered my tiny citrine and diamond butterfly pendant direct from Kiki in their sale. It was only about 380 pounds and was a deep discount so it didn't matter too much, but I would only order Kiki from Berry's, usually. They don't have much on their website but they can order anything in from Kiki. The whole process takes about 10-12 days between ordering the item and receiving it. Kiki has your item with you the next day...but you pay a lot for that service, plus the 7%.

I also ordered my pearl drops direct from Kiki, as again they weren't very expensive and I just wanted to have them right away. That was approx three weeks ago and I haven't received my 7% customs bill yet though.

I wanted to point out something else: When the UK has its referendum on whether to leave the EU on June 23, the pound is set to nosedive against the dollar, if only temporarily. So that will be a great time to buy anything Kiki from the UK. Make sure to use a bank debit card or credit card with no forex fees. Many charge 3%. Charmypoo says Chase is good for this.
 

Ally66

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Jambalaya, thanks for joining in and for your detailed information! Very interesting, about the UK referendum and its potential effect on dollar vs pound. I will have to pay attention!

I'm wondering if you have any other information on your A.Link huggies? I have done some searching online and have found A.Link, but not a comprehensive listing of their items or any earrings matching your description. Right now I'm working with solid gold huggies, but adding that little bit of sparkle would be a nice touch!

I ended up buying a pair of the white topaz charms from Heavenly Necklaces, and some pretty pearls on Ebay. And now I'm working with an artist on Etsy who makes some lovely and nicely-priced gold and gemstone jewelry, to have her adapt some of her dangle earrings into interchangeable charms. If it works out, I will come back and show them! I've talked to her about moonstone, pink amethyst, and aquamarine "slices." Fun!

Thanks again!
 

Jambalaya

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Dolly, thank you SO much for that info! I'm hugely appreciative!

Ally - I could never find my A. Link hoops online either. They must sell them only direct to the trade. If you want, I can get the stock number from my jeweler and you could have your jeweler order them in? I'm sure my jeweler still has them. I paid somewhere between $150-160 for mine. They are 14k, 0.12 ctw. Be warned though, they are very thin and barely-there!
 

Ally66

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Jambalaya, thanks for your kind offer! I think I'm not ready to move ahead yet, so I won't have you do that right now. If you have time, would you take a look at these from Blue Nile and see if you think they're comparable in size? It sounds like I wouldn't want them to be smaller.. Thank you!

http://www.bluenile.com/petite-diamond-hoop-earrings-yellow-gold_56285
 

Jambalaya

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Hi Ally, I think that these hoops are mine. I've actually had my doubts that mine are A. Link because the little store tag on mine didn't say A. Link and also the SA said they were 18k but they're 14k. I think it's possible that my SA got mixed up. I think the ones on the BN website are mine - they look identical in every way, right down to the carat weight being the same - 0.12. It must be the same supplier. If you get them and don't like them, you can always send them back.
 

Ally66

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Ah, interesting! Thanks for looking. I think I may give them a try -- and I *may* watch for a sale for a while. I'd love to get them for less than $400.
 
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