Vintage Chinese Diamond Huggie Earrings 20k
1900s Straits Chinese drop earrings set with 1.7ctw diamonds in 20k.
This is a typical Chinese huggie earrings, except with more substantial diamonds than usual pairs.
The difference between Eastern and Western huggies is really how thickset the former tends to be. The love for gold is one reason.
From the hoop to the drop, the diamond to gold work ratio is tight. Smaller diamonds line the hoop, while 9 diamonds form each flower cluster.
The diamonds are set with tiny bead prongs, such traditional techniques flash more stone than gold.
Wearing such huggies radiates an ethnic beauty – the hoop will hug your earlobes fully – this aesthetic is now bohemian through our modern eyes.
The sway of the drop is gentle but it extends the huggie into so much more. They are old, feel old, but wear with such excitement.
The lever mechanism in the antiquity of such huggie hoops have become impossible to replicate today.
The huggie hoops have a diameter of 11mm and come to 2.5cm long.