9ct White Gold 1.9ct Lab-Grown Diamond Bezel-Set Stud Earrings

A stud earring is the simplest structure in jewellery and the least forgiving: a setting, a post and a back, with nothing to hide behind.

This one is 9ct white gold, carrying 1.9 ct of lab-grown diamonds in total, cut round brilliant. As a shape, the round brilliant is cut to return the most light of any shape, which is why it is the default for a line of small stones.

Will this suit me?

• Size: Sold as a pair. Each earring carries about 0.95 ct; a round brilliant of that weight typically measures about 6.5 mm across face-up (for scale, an Australian 5c coin is 19.4 mm across).
• On the ear: Noticeable without being oversized: an easy everyday size.
• Comfort and security: The smooth bezel collar has nothing to catch on clothing or hair.
• Everyday wear: Earrings take very little wear, and 9ct is the harder alloy, so these will stand up to being worn every day. The bright white finish is rhodium plating, which wears with daily contact and can be renewed by a jeweller.
• Other options: Metals: 18ct white gold, 18ct yellow gold.

A bezel setting wraps a continuous collar of gold around the girdle of the stone. It is the most protective setting there is: nothing catches, nothing snags, and the stone cannot be knocked loose from the side. The trade-off is that the collar covers a little of the stone's edge, so a bezel-set stone reads marginally smaller than a claw-set one of the same weight.

What matters is that the setting sits flat to the lobe and the post is centred in it. An off-centre post is the reason studs tilt forward as the day goes on.

Specification

• Metal: 9ct white gold (375)
• Total stone weight: 1.9 ct
• Stone: Lab-grown diamond
• Cut: Round brilliant
• Setting: Bezel-set
• Type: Stud Earrings
• Sold as: Pair

9ct white gold is 375 parts per thousand fine gold in a white alloy, finished with rhodium plating for an even, bright white surface. Rhodium is a wearing surface and can be renewed by any jeweller when it thins.

Care. Sold as a pair. Butterfly backs loosen with wear and are worth replacing before they are lost.