Pair of Earrings with Snap-on Covers

American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 706


The spherical, hinged covers for these old mine-cut diamond drop earrings would have served to protect the valuable stones or simply to conceal them during daytime hours. An innovation created by American jewelers in the 1870s and 1880s, snap-on earring covers were made in black enamel on gold—suitable for mourning—or in plain, chased, or gem-set gold.

Pair of Earrings with Snap-on Covers, Gold, diamond, and enamel, American

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Pair of Earrings with Snap-on Covers, Gold, diamond, and enamel, American
Pair of Earrings with Snap-on Covers, Gold, diamond, and enamel, American
Pair of Earrings with Snap-on Covers, Gold, diamond, and enamel, American

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