Heyman Brothers Earrings
Vintage 1970s Hoop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Amethyst, Citrine, Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Platinum, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1980s American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Platinum
Late 20th Century Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire
Late 20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Topaz, Citrine, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold,...
Vintage 1970s American Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
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Vintage 1960s French Modernist Brooches
Coral, Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century French Modernist Choker Necklaces
Chalcedony, Chrysophrase, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s Italian Retro Brooches
Ruby, Turquoise, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1950s Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
1990s Beaded Necklaces
South Sea Pearl, Diamond, Cultured Pearl, 18k Gold
Antique Late 19th Century American Victorian Stud Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver
Antique 1890s Austrian Art Nouveau Pendant Necklaces
Ruby, Natural Pearl, Pearl, White Diamond, Diamond, Enamel, Yellow Gold,...
Antique 1880s French Egyptian Revival Choker Necklaces
Garnet, Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Vintage 1970s American Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Jade, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Cocktail Rings
White Diamond, Diamond, Yellow Gold, White Gold, 18k Gold, Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Link Necklaces
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Modernist Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
Vintage 1980s French Wrist Watches
White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Emerald, Onyx, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s French Modernist Brooches
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Dangle Earrings
Diamond, Ruby
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
American Clip-on Earrings
Vintage 1950s American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Late 20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Platinum
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1970s American Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Brooches
White Diamond, 18k Gold
Vintage 1950s French Clip-on Earrings
Sapphire, Diamond, 14k Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Platinum
Vintage 1980s American Hoop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Late 20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Yellow S...
20th Century Stud Earrings
Emerald, Diamond, Platinum
American Hoop Earrings
Vintage 1970s American Contemporary More Earrings
Diamond, Platinum, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Heyman Brothers Earrings For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Heyman Brothers Earrings?
Oscar Heyman for sale on 1stDibs
Known as “the jewelers’ jeweler,” Oscar Heyman (1888–1970) designed pieces for Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston and Black, Starr & Frost. The family-run Oscar Heyman & Brothers jewelry company was founded by Heyman with his brothers Nathan and Harry in 1912. Jewelers from Latvia, they had trained at their great-uncle’s workshop, which had clients including Russian imperial jeweler Fabergé, before immigrating to the United States in the early 1900s.
After arriving in New York, Oscar worked with Pierre Cartier and Nathan was a tool maker at Western Electric before they came together to open their jewelry business. Highly skilled craftsmen, the Heyman brothers quickly developed a roster of high-profile clients — primarily big-name jewelers — drawn to their work with dazzling stones and meticulous design. In 1917, Black, Starr & Frost commissioned the brothers to design an American flag brooch, which would become a recurring motif in the Oscar Heyman & Brothers portfolio. They also designed the Pansy brooch in the 1930s, another long-popular accessory that was produced exclusively for Tiffany & Co. toward the end of the 20th century. After Heyman designed for four of the five jewelers on view at the 1939 World’s Fair House of Jewels (Cartier, Udall & Ballou, Marcus & Co. and Black, Starr & Frost), the company was given the moniker “the jewelers’ jeweler.”
Heyman & Brothers later designed gem-encrusted medallions that traveled to the moon on Apollo 16, the necklace setting for the 69-carat diamond Richard Burton gave Elizabeth Taylor in 1969 and even a pair of ruby-encrusted Stuart Weitzman stilettos in 2003. Over the years, the company has entranced such clients as Evelyn Lauder, Marjorie Merriweather Post, Billy Porter and Tina Fey with its pieces.
In 2012, the century-old jeweler underwent a rebranding to simplify its name to Oscar Heyman and today is still run by the Heyman family, which manages the whole process from alloying their own metal to cutting and polishing their gemstones to assembling the final product in-house. In 2017, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston published a monograph authored by Yvonne J. Markowitz and Elizabeth Hamilton that details for a broader audience the history of Oscar Heyman, an unsung company that’s long been behind some of the biggest names in jewelry.
Shop authentic Oscar Heyman rings, brooches and bracelets on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Earrings for You
In the United States, ear piercing didn’t really become popular until the 1950s and ‘60s, but our desire for a dazzling pair of vintage earrings has deeper roots than that. In fact, wearing earrings actually goes back thousands of years, and you can find many tangible connections between now and then in how we continue to talk about these treasured accessories.
Women wore ornamental earrings — studs and hoops at the very least — in Ancient Egypt, which is home to mines that are among the earliest sources of emeralds in the world. Emerald earrings are highly prized today, and their quality lies in their rich, saturated color. The highest-quality emeralds are green or bluish-green. Earrings worn by the affluent in early Roman civilizations were set with precious stones such as diamonds and pearls, and a clean-looking pop of pearl on the front of the lobe is as timeless as ever. Hoop earrings are imbued with symbolism and cultural significance for many, and on view in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Ancient Near Eastern Art Gallery is a pair of simple gold hoops from Mesopotamia dating to between 2600 and 2500 B.C.
Today, ear piercing is very popular all over the world, and, as a result, it is difficult to overstate how much everyone pines for a good pair of earrings — modernist drop earrings, glamorous Victorian hoops, geometrically complex chandelier earrings, you name it. Sure, jewelry trends and the fashion darlings of social media come and go, but earrings have a staying power that seems impenetrable: The still-strong love affair between British royals and Cartier earrings is more than a century old, glossy 1970s hoops from legacy houses such as Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels remain the statement makers they’ve always been and although people have been stacking earrings for many moons, the allure of an expertly mismatched stack of charms and studs still feels fresh and new.
While there is no shortage of modern earring designs to choose from, the classics, like coral earrings, Art Deco–style earrings and diamond drop earrings are still heavy hitters. On 1stDibs, find a wide range of antique, new and vintage earrings today.