Types of earring: studs, huggies, hoops, drops

A pearl with no hook

The most famous earring in Western art doesn't hang from anything. In Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted around 1665, the pearl is made of almost nothing: the Mauritshuis in The Hague, which owns the painting, points out that it is two strokes of white paint, a reflection of her collar below and a thick dab of light above, and nothing more, "not even a silver hook". The museum adds that a pearl that size is probably an imitation.

Paint can get away with that. Real earrings can't. Every one of them has to solve the same small problem of staying in an ear all day, and the way it solves it shapes how it looks, how it feels and who it suits. So this guide takes the two halves in turn: the shape you see from the front, and the fastening you don't.

The shapes

Earring names are trade words rather than legal ones, and shops don't always agree on where one ends and the next begins. These are the meanings most jewellers use.

• Studs. A decorative front fixed to a straight post, sitting directly on the ear with nothing hanging below. The plainest and most versatile earring there is.
• Huggies. Very small hoops that hug the earlobe closely. Most close with a hinged post built into the hoop, so there is no separate back to lose.
• Hoops. Round or half-round earrings that make a loop from the front of the lobe to the back. They run from tiny to dramatic.
• Drops and danglers. A drop hangs a little below the lobe and moves very little. A dangle, or dangler, hangs lower and swings freely. Chandelier earrings are the most elaborate kind, branched into tiers like the light fitting they are named after.
• Threaders. A fine chain or wire that is pulled through the piercing so it hangs on both sides of the lobe.
• Climbers. Also called crawlers. A long, curved front that sits in the lobe and appears to climb up the edge of the ear.
• Ear cuffs. A piece that wraps around the edge of the ear and stays on by tension, so it needs no piercing at all.
• Ear jackets. A stud at the front, with a second decorative piece that sits behind the lobe and shows beneath it.
• Clip-ons. Earrings that grip the lobe with a clip rather than passing through it, for ears that aren't pierced.

Backs and fastenings

The back is the unglamorous half of an earring, and the half that decides whether you go home with both of them.

• Butterfly or push back. Also called a friction back or scroll. A small metal back with two curled wings that slides along a plain post and grips it. It is the most common back of all, and fine for everyday wear, but the grip can loosen over time. Gently pinching the curls closer together is the usual fix.
• Screw back. The post is threaded and the back screws on to it. It takes longer to put on, and it is the choice for valuable studs, where losing one would really hurt.
• Lever back. A curved ear wire with a hinged lever that swings up and closes against the end of the wire. Popular on drops, because the closed loop stops the earring sliding out.
• Hinged huggie or hoop. One end of the hoop is a hinged post that swings through the ear and clicks into a groove in the other end, making a closed loop.
• Latch back. Found on larger hoops: a hinged piece folds over the end of the post to lock it.
• French hook. Also called a fish hook or French wire. A simple curved wire that passes through the piercing and hangs behind the lobe. Light and easy, and the least secure of the lot, since nothing holds it closed.

Lobe or cartilage

The lobe is the soft, fleshy part at the bottom of the ear, and it is where most first earrings go. Almost everything above it is cartilage, the firmer tissue that gives the ear its shape. Piercers have names for every curve. A UK aftercare leaflet for ear piercings lists the lobe, tragus, anti-tragus, conch, helix, snug, daith, industrial and rook, along with two that pass through the lobe itself, the translobal and transverse lobe.

• Lobe. Takes almost any shape: studs, huggies, hoops, drops, threaders and the base of a climber.
• Helix. The curved outer rim of the upper ear. Small studs and small hoops are the usual choice.
• Tragus, conch, daith and the rest. These are usually pierced and dressed with body jewellery rather than traditional earrings. UK piercing guidance notes that barbells and captive rings are the commonest body piercing shapes, because their substantial form cuts the risk of embedding, tearing and the jewellery working its way out.
• No piercing at all. An ear cuff sits on the cartilage edge by tension alone.

A healing cartilage piercing needs a little extra care at night. The Association of Professional Piercers warns that sleeping directly on one can irritate it and even shift the angle of the piercing, and suggests resting the ear in the hole of a travel pillow.

What gauge means

Gauge is the measure of how thick a piece of piercing jewellery is, the post or wire that actually passes through the ear. It runs backwards: the higher the number, the thinner the jewellery. Retailers' charts commonly give these sizes.

Most everyday earrings are made for a lobe piercing and simply fit. Gauge starts to matter with cartilage piercings and body jewellery, where the piercer chooses it. It works both ways: the Association of Professional Piercers notes that the body may treat jewellery that is too thin like a splinter.

Earrings for a new piercing

A fresh piercing is a small wound, and what goes into it matters more than at any other time. The NHS advises choosing a qualified, experienced and licensed piercer, and not piercing yourself, since you are much more likely to get an infection.

• The metal. The UK's tattooing and body piercing guidance lists titanium, niobium, platinum and gold as acceptable, with gold preferably solid 14 or 18 carat for ear piercing. Gold above 18 carat is too soft, and below 14 carat may contain impurities that can cause an allergic response. The Association of Professional Piercers also names implant-grade titanium and steel to specific implant standards, and says gold plated, gold-filled and vermeil jewellery is not acceptable for fresh piercings.
• The fit. The jewellery should suit your anatomy and the placement. Too tight restricts air and blood flow, and ill-fitting jewellery makes swelling and embedding more likely.
• The piercing gun. Where guns are used, UK guidance says they should be the type that uses a single-use, self-contained cartridge holding the stud and back, so the gun itself never touches the client.
• Leave it in. The Association of Professional Piercers advises keeping the original jewellery in for the whole healing period unless there is a problem with its size, style or material, and having a piercer make any changes. So save the hoops and drops for later.

How long is "later"? UK council aftercare advice gives about 6 to 8 weeks for an ear piercing as a rough guide, and stresses that it varies with the type and position of the piercing and from person to person. Your piercer is the best judge of when yours is ready.

Nickel and the law

The NHS names nickel as one of the metals that can cause allergic contact dermatitis, and earrings are the jewellery the law treats most strictly. Under the nickel restriction in UK REACH, which matches the EU rule, any post that goes into a pierced ear or other piercing must release less than 0.2 micrograms of nickel per square centimetre per week. Earrings and other jewellery in prolonged contact with the skin may release no more than 0.5 micrograms, and a coating over a nickel-containing metal must keep it within that limit for at least two years of normal use.

UK piercing guidance makes clear that the stricter limit covers the earring back too: the post, and the parts that hold it in and against the piercing. If you already know you react to nickel, a pharmacist or GP can help you work out what to avoid.

Back to the pearl

Vermeer's girl has been looking over her shoulder for more than three and a half centuries, and her pearl has never once fallen out. The rest of us have to rely on something less magical: a well-chosen back, a post of the right metal, and a little patience while a new piercing heals. Get those right, and the front of the earring can be whatever you like.