Small diameter huggie hunt

[newtojewels]

Like many people, I have been on a huggie hunt. I am looking for small inner diameter huggies in rose gold with small but well-cut stones to replace the crummy ones I have from Etsy (and yes, I have cleaned them!). I had originally imagined using these for starting a collection of drops, but right now I only have a pair of 7-7.5mm Akoya pearls so these don't necessarily have to fill that role. They would be a daily earring regardless so have to be fine for casual wear.

My Etsy hoops are 9mm outer diameter and 6.5mm inner diameter with 5x0.01ct stones each, so 0.1ctw total for the pair.

I would ideally have found:

• 3-5 pointers, well-cut
• 6mm inner diameter
• 18k rose gold

But these don't seem to exist anywhere except at Maria Tash, where they are $3740 for 0.7ctw hoops with 8x0.043ct stones eternity-style on each hoop, which is way out of budget in addition to just feeling excessively priced.

IDJ has 5 stones per hoop in F/G, SI "ideal cut" stones in 18k rose gold with my choice of:

• 5x0.03ct per earring (0.3ctw for the pair) for $750 (dimensions unknown, but smaller than the 0.5ctw)
• 5x0.05ct per earring (0.5ctw for the pair) for $795 (12.5mm outer diameter, 8mm inner diameter) - here's a video of the setting
• 5x0.07ct per earring (0.7 ctw for the pair) for $1150 (12.9mm outer diameter, 7-8mm inner diameter) - here's a youtube video

WF has a 0.96ctw pair of tight huggies with 3 16-pointers per earring that they can special order that are 18k rose gold for $2785, here's a video of those. They're 13mm outer diameter, unknown inner diameter. These would not be ACAs and would be final sale, so I'm pretty reluctant to jump on that, plus they would be more expensive than I was originally intending. I found the same earrings at Anjolee where the are available with lab diamonds. WF's shared prong huggies can also be made in rose gold, but they're a bigger diameter than the IDJ ones.

To me the IDJ 7 pointers seem more nicely made than their 5 pointers, like a reasonable price, and like they would hug a bit more snugly than the 5 pointers would, but they might be a bit blingy for small drops like my Akoyas and they will hang lower than I would ideally want.... Any thoughts? Or other places to look for small huggies? A lot of places don't have rose gold, which I'm pretty set on. I'm reluctant to attempt fully custom for this but maybe I should...

Thank you

Here's a photo of the 0.1ctw pair on me from when I first got them. Please excuse the messy hair!

 

[dk168]

The issue with small huggies is that they need small stones in order for them to fit into a curve.

My huggies are D-shaped and not round ones, and they have 0.37cttw of diamonds on them, not sure how many points they are, sorry!

This is what my usual contact at the bench I use asked me to measure:





I wanted 3 to 4mm LGD so that I could wear them on their own without any drop for day to day casually.

However, he suggested 2.5mm stones instead, something to do with having to set the stones in a curve, and smaller ones will sit and look nicer in small huggies.

My earlobes are a lot bigger than yours though as shown with my most recent purchase which is a pair of WSS drops (either 11.15 or 11.20mm):



Good luck with your search.

DK

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

I have used Jude Frances Huggies for 18 years and had many charms made and bought from her collection.

 

[newtojewels]

The issue with small huggies is that they need small stones in order for them to fit into a curve.

My huggies are D-shaped and not round ones, and they have 0.37cttw of diamonds on them, not sure how many points they are, sorry!

This is what my usual contact at the bench I use asked me to measure:





I wanted 3 to 4mm LGD so that I could wear them on their own without any drop for day to day casually.

However, he suggested 2.5mm stones instead, something to do with having to set the stones in a curve, and smaller ones will sit and look nicer in small huggies.

My earlobes are a lot bigger than yours though as shown with my most recent purchase which is a pair of WSS drops (either 11.15 or 11.20mm):



Good luck with your search.

DK

Thank you for the advice and the measurements! Have you had the 2.5mm pair made yet or is it still on the list? It looks like yours are 8 stones each, so just over 2 points each. That's helpful!

I love those drops, they're stunning.

I have used Jude Frances Huggies for 18 years and had many charms made and bought from her collection.

Sadly it looks like Jude Frances doesn't do rose gold! But those are lovely, I like the milgrain and all of the charms.

 

[dk168]

Have you had the 2.5mm pair made yet or is it still on the list?

No, not yet, setting 2 CSs from Jeff White first, hopefully in time to arrive before the year is out.

DK

 

[chere]

I found these 10mm huggies in rose gold with 3 point stones but they are so pricey. I would get a quote for custom huggies at this price point.

https://auratenewyork.com/products/thick-forever-diamond-hinged-huggie-earrings

FWIW I had a really hard time finding huggies in a specific shape, metal color and diamond quality I wanted. I learned to appreciate my “low quality” everyday huggies from the maul jeweller a bit more after a really long search. I don’t loupe the pair I have and run them in the ultrasonic once a week.

I splurged on my custom platinum huggies I wear on special occasions. I like having different sets to wear.

Good luck with the search