Modern Drop Amethyst Earrings
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, White Diamond, Palladium
2010s Turkish Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Gold, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Quartz, Topaz, 18k Gold, White Gold, Gold, 14k Gold
Early 2000s Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Sterling Silver, Gold, 18k Gold, Silver, Rose Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Gold, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Turkish Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Quartz, Tanzanite, Topaz, Vermeil
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Turquoise Matrix, 9k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 18k Gold, Rose Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Tourmaline, Tsavorite, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
2010s American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Morganite, Tourmaline, Paraiba, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary American Artisan Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Sapphire, Ruby, Topaz, Gold, 18k Gold
2010s American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 14k Gold, Rose Gold
2010s American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 14k Gold, Rose Gold
Early 2000s Italian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 2000s English Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Topaz, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Artisan Drop Earrings
Amethyst, White Diamond, Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Topaz, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Greek Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Rose Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Turkish Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Gold, 14k Gold
2010s Thai Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Emerald
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Drop Earrings
Topaz, Amethyst, Diamond, Quartz, Gold, 14k Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Citrine, Diamond, Pearl, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Crystal, Zircon
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Citrine, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 14k Gold, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Drop Earrings
Diamond, Tourmaline, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Dutch Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Tourmaline, Platinum
2010s Turkish Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Peridot, Quartz, Tanzanite, Topaz, Vermeil, Rhodium
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Black Diamond, Diamond, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
2010s Turkish Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Quartz, Tanzanite, Topaz, Yellow Gold, Vermeil
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Austrian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, White Diamond, Platinum, Rhodium, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Chalcedony, Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Rose Gold
2010s American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Garnet, Multi-gemstone, Peridot, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Yell...
2010s American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Garnet, Multi-gemstone, Peridot, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Yell...
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Rose Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Yellow Gold
2010s Hong Kong Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Dutch Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Austrian Modern Drop Earrings
White Diamond, Amethyst, Platinum, Rhodium, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Topaz, Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Italian Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Purple Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Ruby, Topaz, Amethyst, Citrine, Quartz, 18k Gold, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Citrine, Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Citrine, Tourmaline, Multi-gemstone, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s British Modern Drop Earrings
Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, White Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Unknown Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Aquamarine, Diamond, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
Vintage 1980s Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drop Earrings
Amethyst, Diamond, Aventurine, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Modern Drop Amethyst Earrings For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Modern Drop Amethyst 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.