Seaman Schepps Turbo Shell Earrings
Vintage 1970s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Amethyst, 14k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
14k Gold
Vintage 1980s Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Carnelian, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, Sapphire, Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Lapis Lazuli, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American More Earrings
Ruby, Sapphire, Gold
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 14k Gold
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Vintage 1970s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Turquoise, Gold, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary North American Clip-on Earrings
Coral, Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s French Modernist Brooches
Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold
Early 20th Century French Belle Époque More Jewelry
Diamond, Platinum
Vintage 1980s Unknown More Rings
Diamond, Onyx, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Modern Lever-Back Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Italian More Necklaces
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Antique 19th Century English Medieval Cocktail Rings
Carnelian, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s French Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Vintage 1960s American Link Bracelets
Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Turquoise, Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Contemporary Stud Earrings
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
14k Gold
Early 2000s American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, 18k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modern Link Bracelets
Mixed Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Coral, Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Recent Sales
20th Century American More Earrings
Turquoise, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Clip-on Earrings
Chrysophrase, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Clip-on Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold
2010s Modern Clip-on Earrings
Pearl, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1970s American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Coral, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1970s American Clip-on Earrings
Sapphire, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
1990s Stud Earrings
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s Clip-on Earrings
Chalcedony, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s American More Earrings
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Clip-on Earrings
Cultured Pearl, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Emerald, Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Natural Pearl, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Lapis Lazuli, 14k Gold
20th Century American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Coral, Pearl, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1970s Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Clip-on Earrings
Pearl, Turquoise, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Citrine, Peridot, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold
Vintage 1960s Stud Earrings
Emerald, Pearl, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold
American Lever-Back Earrings
Vintage 1970s American Collectible Jewelry
20th Century American More Earrings
Citrine, 18k Gold
20th Century American More Earrings
Sapphire, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century American More Earrings
Citrine, 18k Gold
20th Century American More Earrings
Ruby, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American More Earrings
Coral, Turquoise, 18k Gold
20th Century American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Coral, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Stud Earrings
Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Emerald, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Stud Earrings
Topaz, Diamond, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Topaz, 18k Gold, White Gold
American Clip-on Earrings
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Cultured Pearl, 14k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Agate, 14k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Turquoise, 14k Gold
American More Necklaces
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Coral, Turquoise, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American More Earrings
Turquoise, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century American Contemporary Clip-on Earrings
Lapis Lazuli, Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Clip-on Earrings
Emerald, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Onyx, 14k Gold
Seaman Schepps Turbo Shell Earrings For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Seaman Schepps Turbo Shell Earrings?
Seaman Schepps for sale on 1stDibs
A scrappy, self-made artist who transformed turbo shells into decadent earrings and crystal chessmen into bold bracelets, Seaman Schepps (1881–1972) tirelessly worked his way up from the tenements of New York’s Lower East Side to become “America’s Court Jeweler.”
Born to immigrant parents who named him for the Seamen’s Bank for Savings that his mother could see from the hospital — or so the legend goes — Schepps dropped out of school at the age of 14 and never had any formal jewelry training. He later moved to California, where he opened his first jewelry shop in 1904. In 1921, he returned to New York to build on the success he’d begun to enjoy as a jeweler on the West Coast, but it wasn’t long before his Manhattan house, which counted Broadway stars and theater patrons among its clientele, was hit hard by the stock market crash of 1929. Schepps used this disruption to rethink his approach to jewelry, debuting a new store in 1934 on Madison Avenue, where he would make his mark in playful custom adornments.
While many high-end jewelers of his era focused on the purest and most valuable gemstones, Schepps chose his materials for their color and shape, elevating flawed stones others disregarded in collage-like formations involving unconventional materials such as fine wood, coral, seashells and flea-market finds. Passersby of his New York City shop could find a frog-shaped brooch carved from rosewood, a vintage snuff bottle broken into links for a bracelet and loose-drilled pearls plugged with diamonds. Schepps’s whimsical pieces found fans in fashion icons who appreciated his unique statements, including Doris Duke, Andy Warhol and the Duchess of Windsor.
Following Schepps’s death in 1972, his daughter, jewelry designer Patricia S. Vaill, ran the jewelry house for two decades before it was taken over by Jay Bauer and Anthony Hopenhajm of Trianon jewelry. Following the closure of the company’s Park Avenue store in November 2020, sales for Seaman Schepps is now based in its boutique location out of Palm Beach, Florida, where the legendary brand carries forth its founder’s spirited designs.
On 1stDibs, find a distinctive collection of vintage Seaman Schepps jewelry, including brooches, bracelets and other accessories.
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.