Modern Gold Button Earrings
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Modern Bracelets
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
Late 20th Century Modern Stud Earrings
14k Gold
1990s Spanish Modern Stud Earrings
Moonstone, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Stud Earrings
Diamond, Topaz, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lever-Back Earrings
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Stud Earrings
Gold, Yellow Gold, 22k Gold
2010s American Modern Stud Earrings
14k Gold, Rose Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1980s Unknown Modern Clip-on Earrings
1990s Modern Stud Earrings
Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
2010s Portuguese Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lever-Back Earrings
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, Ruby, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stud Earrings
Agate, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 2000s American Contemporary Stud Earrings
Peridot, Rhodolite, 14k Gold
2010s American Modern Stud Earrings
White Diamond, 18k Gold
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
1990s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Gold Plate, Brass
1990s Italian Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Dangle Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold, Rose Gold, Gold
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century French Modern Clip-on Earrings
21st Century and Contemporary North American Dangle Earrings
Diamond, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Stud Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
Antique Mid-19th Century Unknown Modern Clip-on Earrings
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dangle Earrings
Diamond, Emerald, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Stud Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
21st Century and Contemporary North American Artisan Stud Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dangle Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s American Hoop Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary North American Artisan Stud Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
2010s American Hoop Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold
Vintage 1980s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Late 20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Turquoise, 18k Gold, Platinum
2010s Turkish Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, Opal, Pearl, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold
2010s Indian Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Drop Earrings
Chrysophrase, Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Drop Earrings
Moonstone, Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
Vintage 1980s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
2010s Italian Modern Drop Earrings
Coral, White Diamond, Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dangle Earrings
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Indian Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel, Gold-filled
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dangle Earrings
Sapphire, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Indian Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stud Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
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Modern Gold Button Earrings For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Modern Gold Button Earrings?
A Close Look at modern Jewelry
Rooted in centuries of history of adornment dating back to the ancient world, modern jewelry reimagines traditional techniques, forms and materials for expressive new pieces. As opposed to contemporary jewelry, which responds to the moment in which it was created, modern jewelry often describes designs from the 20th to 21st centuries that reflect movements and trends in visual culture.
Modern jewelry emerged from the 19th-century shift away from jewelry indicating rank or social status. The Industrial Revolution allowed machine-made jewelry using electric gold plating, metal alloys and imitation stones, making beautiful jewelry widely accessible. Although mass production deemphasized the materials of the jewelry, the vision of the designer remained important, something that would be furthered in the 1960s with what’s known as the “critique of preciousness.”
A design fair called the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” brought global attention to the Art Deco style in 1925 and gathered a mix of jewelry artists alongside master jewelers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Mauboussin and Boucheron. Art Deco designs from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels unconventionally mixed gemstones like placing rock crystals next to diamonds while borrowing motifs from eclectic sources including Asian lacquer and Persian carpets. Among Cartier’s foremost design preoccupations at the time were high-contrast color combinations and crisp, geometric forms and patterns. In the early 20th century, modernist jewelers like Margaret De Patta and artists such as Alexander Calder — who is better known for his kinetic sculptures than his provocative jewelry — explored sculptural metalwork in which geometric shapes and lines were preferred over elaborate ornamentation.
Many of the innovations in modern jewelry were propelled by women designers such as Wendy Ramshaw, who used paper to craft her accessories in the 1960s. During the 1970s, Elsa Peretti created day-to-night pieces for Tiffany & Co. while designers like Lea Stein experimented with layering plastic, a material that had been employed in jewelry since the mid-19th century and had expanded into Bakelite, acrylics and other unique materials.
Find a collection of modern watches, bracelets, engagement rings, necklaces, earrings and other jewelry 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.