Sterling Silver Amethyst Peridot Quartz Citrine Garnet Earrings

Characterized by bold colors, lavish details and a rich mix of materials, Luigi Ferrara jewelry is a love letter to Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. Every ornate cocktail ring, conspicuous pendant necklace and stunning pair of drop earrings command attention and admiration.

Ferrara was born in Naples, Italy, which is known to jewelry collectors for its goldsmithing tradition. He came from a family of jewelers that established the Ferrara workshop in 1918. Ferrara developed a love for the craft himself, and he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1967. In 1972, he started his own eponymously named jewelry company. The brand was later renamed "Ferrara GiFè Gioielli" for his son, Gianluca Ferrara.

Ferrara's jewelry business enjoyed substantial growth over its first few years. Part of the reason for its immediate success was that the jewelry offered a bright and audacious alternative to the trendy minimalism of the day. It was brimming with details and made extensive use of precious metals, pearls and colorful gemstones. One of the most provocative aspects of Luigi Ferrara jewelry is the use of coral, a longtime specialty of Naples goldsmiths. It features prominently in many of the company's bracelets and beaded necklaces. Ferrara also sought to create jewelry that was natural and easy to wear, ensuring that each piece was as functional as it was beautiful.

Today, Gianluca Ferrara serves as CEO of Ferrara GiFè Gioielli. The company regularly participates in exhibitions such as International Jewellery London and Spring Fair in Birmingham. It continues to produce vintage-inspired pieces but also offers a selection of contemporary jewelry.

On 1stDibs, find Luigi Ferrara earrings, rings, necklaces and more.

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.