What’s the heaviest pair of earrings you’d wear on a daily basis?

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I gave myself a mini heart attack right now when I looked at the invoice for my hoops and realised they’re a whopping 12g each! No wonder my ears get sore if I wear them continuously for more than 7-8h (though if I take a break for a couple hours, I can get more wear out of them, and if I wear bling dots I can do probably close to 18ish hours). But heavier than these I’d need bling dots or I’d tap out after a couple hours of wearing.

What about you - what’s the heaviest pair you can handle wearing regularly (let’s say 6-8h of wear counts as “regular”)?

Also - am I screwing up my ears by wearing heavy earrings regularly? I have pretty robust, meaty earlobes; but I’m also young and I don’t want to screw myself over as I get older! I’ll be diligent with bling dots if necessary! They don’t drag my ear downwards at all though when I’m wearing them, but they do hurt when I run and they bounce and hit my face

 

[Star gazer]

I gave myself a mini heart attack right now when I looked at the invoice for my hoops and realised they’re a whopping 12g each! No wonder my ears get sore if I wear them continuously for more than 7-8h (though if I take a break for a couple hours, I can get more wear out of them, and if I wear bling dots I can do probably close to 18ish hours). But heavier than these I’d need bling dots or I’d tap out after a couple hours of wearing.

What about you - what’s the heaviest pair you can handle wearing regularly (let’s say 6-8h of wear counts as “regular”)?

Also - am I screwing up my ears by wearing heavy earrings regularly? I have pretty robust, meaty earlobes; but I’m also young and I don’t want to screw myself over as I get older! I’ll be diligent with bling dots if necessary! They don’t drag my ear downwards at all though when I’m wearing them, but they do hurt when I run and they bounce and hit my face

I say life is short, wear them always!! With those little breaks that you give your earlobes, of course. Do you have any pics of them on, that you can post?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I say life is short, wear them always!! With those little breaks that you give your earlobes, of course. Do you have any pics of them on, that you can post?

I don’t post earshots I’m afraid - I had posted one a while ago, but I deleted it soon after. But I have a pic on my thread about hoops - so you can picture them on, if you like.
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...ps-a-classic-staple-piece.277083/post-5325009

I’d still like to know what’s the heaviest pair you wear regularly, if you’d like to share!

 

[Star gazer]

I don’t post earshots I’m afraid - I had posted one a while ago, but I deleted it soon after. But I have a pic on my thread about hoops - so you can picture them on, if you like.
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...ps-a-classic-staple-piece.277083/post-5325009

I’d still like to know what’s the heaviest pair you wear regularly, if you’d like to share!

Gorgeous @AllAboardTheBlingTrain !! I remember these! I totally get what you mean, about the ear shot. I only have one pair that I wear every single day, and they are round diamond studs! Just a little over a carat total weight. But I'd love to own diamond hoops one day!

 

[Natylad]

Hello! I don't ever wear heavy earrings for 8 hours straight. I've done it before but i noticed that it had an effect on my earlobes and it slightly stretched my piercing.
Since then, i've been wearing heavier earrings only for up to three hours (usually on a night out) and for a longer time i wear much lighter earrings (usually 1.20 ct tw studs).

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Hello! I don't ever wear heavy earrings for 8 hours straight. I've done it before but i noticed that it had an effect on my earlobes and it slightly stretched my piercing.
Since then, i've been wearing heavier earrings only for up to three hours (usually on a night out) and for a longer time i wear much lighter earrings (usually 1.20 ct tw studs).

This is my fear - I don’t want to stretch out my piercings. I have been wearing these earrings a lot since I got them and while I haven’t seen a noticeable effect on my ears as of now… but I’m worried it’ll compound over time. Perhaps I’ll have to restrict them to occasion-specific wear, or wear bling dots with them

 

[Natylad]

This is my fear - I don’t want to stretch out my piercings. I have been wearing these earrings a lot since I got them and while I haven’t seen a noticeable effect on my ears as of now… but I’m worried it’ll compound over time. Perhaps I’ll have to restrict them to occasion-specific wear, or wear bling dots with them

I love bling dots!!! I use them all the time!

 

[Pomelo]

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain looks like I missed out on the modshot wuwuwu, but your EC hoops are fabulous!!

In terms of weight, my limit is around 5g for daily wear. I have this pair of Elsa Peretti teardrop lever back studs that are just under 4.5g, and my ears feel a bit numb at the end of the day - but when I wear them, it’s usually from when I get dressed to undressed, so more like 16h rather than the 6-8h you mention!

Edited to add: when I had earring posts added to these (they were originally clip ons), my jeweller weighed them as part of their intake process and commented that the weight is close to the 5g threshold they recommend for comfortable daily wear. But everyone’s ears are different and if yours are okay wit your wonderful hoops then go for it! Mine can also withstand my 18g VCA 4-motif Magic Alhambras for a whole evening

 

[missy]

2 grams each max. I can’t tolerate heavier and I prefer lighter
Some of my earrings
All lightweight enough for my ears

 

[lucida818]

Recently I have been very tempted to add Bvlgari Serpenti hoops Demi pave in RG to my collection but weight is my main concern.
Weighs 4.3g each side.
I always think my max is 3g each side. I subsequently weighed my VCA Vintage Alhambra earrings which I find them so comfortable.
Same weight as Serpenti.
So I guess it’s the tension that matters, not purely weight issue.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain looks like I missed out on the modshot wuwuwu, but your EC hoops are fabulous!!

In terms of weight, my limit is around 5g for daily wear. I have this pair of Elsa Peretti teardrop lever back studs that are just under 4.5g, and my ears feel a bit numb at the end of the day - but when I wear them, it’s usually from when I get dressed to undressed, so more like 16h rather than the 6-8h you mention!

Edited to add: when I had earring posts added to these (they were originally clip ons), my jeweller weighed them as part of their intake process and commented that the weight is close to the 5g threshold they recommend for comfortable daily wear. But everyone’s ears are different and if yours are okay wit your wonderful hoops then go for it! Mine can also withstand my 18g VCA 4-motif Magic Alhambras for a whole evening

Oooh @Pomelo i do hope you mean your stunning VCA 4 motif earrings are 18g total and not 18g each, because I can’t even imagine what 18g would feel like on the ear!!

I think if I have to wear earrings from dressed to undressed, as you put it, I would also probably tap out around 5g. Or I’d need breaks at the least if the earrings were much heavier.

Side note - I love your style. It’s just so cool.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

2 grams each max. I can’t tolerate heavier and I prefer lighter
Some of my earrings
All lightweight enough for my ears

It’s definitely wiser to wear lighter earrings than heavier, @missy! I’ve started rotating the hoops out with other earrings in my collection so that I don’t screw up my ears. I’m just happy that no matter how heavy studs get they’re unlikely to cross the 2g mark

Recently I have been very tempted to add Bvlgari Serpenti hoops Demi pave in RG to my collection but weight is my main concern.
Weighs 4.3g each side.
I always think my max is 3g each side. I subsequently weighed my VCA Vintage Alhambra earrings which I find them so comfortable.
Same weight as Serpenti.
So I guess it’s the tension that matters, not purely weight issue.

I think you make a great point about tension. I had removable jackets made for my studs and for a few days I was torturing my ears by screwing the back as close to my ear as physically possible so that there wouldn’t be any drooping etc. I couldn’t understand why my ears were hurting when they clearly don’t weigh much of anything! Then I realised it’s because I’m screwing them so close to my ear it’s getting pinched and it’s what is causing the pain, not that the earring is too heavy for me. I started wearing them a little looser and it was all fine after that!

 

[lulu_ma]

Be careful! I wore heavy earrings in my youth and now I have "saggy" piercings. I could get surgery to fix them, but instead I limit myself to post earrings.

 

[Pomelo]

Oooh @Pomelo i do hope you mean your stunning VCA 4 motif earrings are 18g total and not 18g each, because I can’t even imagine what 18g would feel like on the ear!!

I think if I have to wear earrings from dressed to undressed, as you put it, I would also probably tap out around 5g. Or I’d need breaks at the least if the earrings were much heavier.

Side note - I love your style. It’s just so cool.

Haha thanks! And sadly not, those VCA puppies are 36g in total

Edit: just found my original post, looks like they're actually 38g in total, so 19g each...

Weight / comfort: these puppies aren’t light at 38g (19g each), although they’re not as heavy as some of the diamond chandeliers I’ve tried on. For context, the VCA Vintage onyx single motif studs are ~7g (3.5g each) and the VCA 3-motif MOP/onyx/GMOP are ~34g (17g per ear) - note these weights were found online as I don't own either of these.

 

[Star gazer]

Haha thanks! And sadly not, those VCA puppies are 36g in total

Oh wow!! What is the max you can wear those?

 

[Pomelo]

Oh wow!! What is the max you can wear those?

I've done 4-5 hours with them (a whole evening) but they are usually the last things I put on and first things to come off

 

[Star gazer]

I've done 4-5 hours with them (a whole evening) but they are usually the last things I put on and first things to come off

Haha awesome

 

[Pomelo]

I think @lucida818 makes a great point about post tension, but I'm wondering whether weight distribution of the earring itself has something to do with comfort as well.

Lucida818 mentioned VCA VA vs Bvlgari Serpenti - how they weighed the same but feel different on her ears. It could be the tension but could it also be the weight distribution because the VA's sit close to the ear whereas the Serpenti sit further/hang lower on the ear?

It made me think about something similar from my earrings: whilst the Elsa Peretti teardrops are 4.5g each, they're only slightly more comfortable than my Chanel Camelia at 12.5g each. Could it be because the Tiffany is drop-shaped so the weight 'drags' downwards, whereas the Chanels have weight towards the centre of the earring? And with the VCAs at 19g each but more dangly/weight distributed downwards, they’re noticeably less comfortable?

(I would also like to add that I didn't do physics beyond aged 16 so would love to be corrected haha)

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Be careful! I wore heavy earrings in my youth and now I have "saggy" piercings. I could get surgery to fix them, but instead I limit myself to post earrings.

Thank you for the warning!! I think I’ll have to be more diligent with bling dots

 

[MiniMinerva]

I have some partially-formed thoughts about this! In my experience, the tension as @lucida818 mentioned as well as center-of-gravity as @Pomelo mentioned makes *all* the difference.

I have two earrings that weigh close to the same amount: Pomellato Iconica (6.7 g each) and Clash de Cartier (6.8 g). I can only wear the Clash de Cartier for a few hours without Bling Dots before wanting to tear them off. Yet the Pomellato Iconica I can wear literally all day and genuinely forget I have them on.

Here is the side profile for both earrings (front of earring facing the right side); Pomellato Iconica above and Clash de Cartier below:

You can see that with the top earring, the weight of the material is distributed relatively equally between the front and the back of the piercing. The earring would easily hang balanced upon its post. With the bottom earring, there is much more material towards the front of the piercing, making the earring pull forward when worn. Intuitive physics tells you it wouldn’t easily balance upon its post. Gravitional force wants to rotate this earring forward until it forms a “U” shape with equal mass front and back, but the ear piercing prevents it from achieving that equilibrium. The wearer may sense this perpetually unbalanced weight as discomfort.

For the bottom earring, I find Bling Dots help *a lot* to reinforce the skin from distortion. It also helps to push the backing as tightly as possible against the ear, to create some tension between front and back and thus distributing the force across a larger surface area surrounding the piercing. The top earring actually does this naturally (on my thick ears at least) as you can see the length of the post is much shorter. For me at least, they are the perfect length — long enough to not pinch but short enough to maintain contact and create friction.

Anyway, I could be thinking about this wrong and physics is definitely not my area either! I’d love hearing what you all think as I’ve found myself pondering this issue many times.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Haha thanks! And sadly not, those VCA puppies are 36g in total

Edit: just found my original post, looks like they're actually 38g in total, so 19g each...

Ooof, 19g each but I assume they’re earrings you wear to occasions, not all the time right?

I have a pair of traditional Indian earrings that are in the range of 17-20g each, and I find them manageable for 8ish hour wear periods with bling dots. But without? My ears would not be able to handle!

As an aside, my mom has a traditional pair that is, and I swear I’m not kidding, 32.5g in EACH ear!! The first time I put them on, I couldn’t even wear them for 10 minutes. Bling dots and ear-chains combined are the only way to get your ears to stay attached to your head when you wear those; and they are strictly for events only.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I think @lucida818 makes a great point about post tension, but I'm wondering whether weight distribution of the earring itself has something to do with comfort as well.

Lucida818 mentioned VCA VA vs Bvlgari Serpenti - how they weighed the same but feel different on her ears. It could be the tension but could it also be the weight distribution because the VA's sit close to the ear whereas the Serpenti sit further/hang lower on the ear?

It made me think about something similar from my earrings: whilst the Elsa Peretti teardrops are 4.5g each, they're only slightly more comfortable than my Chanel Camelia at 12.5g each. Could it be because the Tiffany is drop-shaped so the weight 'drags' downwards, whereas the Chanels have weight towards the centre of the earring? And with the VCAs at 19g each but more dangly/weight distributed downwards, they’re noticeably less comfortable?

(I would also like to add that I didn't do physics beyond aged 16 so would love to be corrected haha)

You also make a really valid point about weight distribution imo. I mean, pressure equals force over area, if I remember high school physics correctly? So gravitational force is acting on all earrings of the same weight equally, but if the earring is spread over a greater area it generates less pressure. Sounds logical to me, but I didn’t do physics post age 15/16 either and it was also one of my WORST subjects in school!

I have some partially-formed thoughts about this! In my experience, the tension as @lucida818 mentioned as well as center-of-gravity as @Pomelo mentioned makes *all* the difference.

I have two earrings that weigh close to the same amount: Pomellato Iconica (6.7 g each) and Clash de Cartier (6.8 g). I can only wear the Clash de Cartier for a few hours without Bling Dots before wanting to tear them off. Yet the Pomellato Iconica I can wear literally all day and genuinely forget I have them on.

Here is the side profile for both earrings (front of earring facing the right side); Pomellato Iconica above and Clash de Cartier below:

You can see that with the top earring, the weight of the material is distributed relatively equally between the front and the back of the piercing. The earring would easily hang balanced upon its post. With the bottom earring, there is much more material towards the front of the piercing, making the earring pull forward when worn. Intuitive physics tells you it wouldn’t easily balance upon its post. Gravitional force wants to rotate this earring forward until it forms a “U” shape with equal mass front and back, but the ear piercing prevents it from achieving that equilibrium. The wearer may sense this perpetually unbalanced weight as discomfort.

For the bottom earring, I find Bling Dots help *a lot* to reinforce the skin from distortion. It also helps to push the backing as tightly as possible against the ear, to create some tension between front and back and thus distributing the force across a larger surface area surrounding the piercing. The top earring actually does this naturally (on my thick ears at least) as you can see the length of the post is much shorter. For me at least, they are the perfect length — long enough to not pinch but short enough to maintain contact and create friction.

Anyway, I could be thinking about this wrong and physics is definitely not my area either! I’d love hearing what you all think as I’ve found myself pondering this issue many times.

I don’t know why, but anecdotally I’d agree with you, the “half loop” style (like the clash, which doesn’t connect at the back) is a pain to wear unless the earring is very light, and I think it’s because of the lack of balance as well.

Though I haven’t noticed this with typical chandelier style earrings of the same weight as the half hoop style, which are meant to just dangle in the front. So I think that adds credence to your theory, that it’s the fact that the earring can’t reach equilibrium that causes additional discomfort.

One thing I’ve found that really helps with heavy chandelier earrings is to have a push or screw back, AND a wide omega back as well. It distributes the weight more evenly than just a push back would.

 

[dk168]

I don't like to wear heavy earrings nowadays - the big chunky costume earrings of the 80s are long gone!

DK

 

[HollyC]

I have wore these ones on a daily basis before. I have thin earlobes, so I need supportive backs. I use wing backs. They weigh just under 12g each.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I have wore these ones on a daily basis before. I have thin earlobes, so I need supportive backs. I use wing backs. They weigh just under 12g each.

Oh I love them! Such pretty colours!!

 

[HollyC]

Oh I love them! Such pretty colours!!

Thank you. Your earrings are the dream

 

[000Ed]

I think my heaviest pair are obsidian stone I don't wear them often pretty heavy not a daily thing for sure

 

[000Ed]

I dont really wear these chains but I got them last year they are heavy but extra heavy so a full day wearing them is not an issue. not really 100% sold on them either might get rid of them?

 

[000Ed]

forgot I had these wore them last night for date night. heavy but again not overly heavy