Turquoise Earrings
Turquoise earrings in sterling silver: studs and posts, drops, hoops, huggies and inlay. Nearly all are T.Skies designs; a Native-made pair is sold under the artist's name. Ask about any stone and we'll tell you how it was treated, if at all.
What you'll find here
Studs and posts sit close to the ear and stay put. Drops and dangles hang from a hook or a post and swing with movement. There are also small hoops, huggies that hug the lobe, and an ear cuff that needs no piercing. Many pairs are inlay: turquoise, and sometimes shell, cut and set flush with the silver, or, in Bassman's words, "ground flat on the top and level with the surrounding silver." Several come as matching sets with a pendant.
A short history
The first silver earrings, worn by both men and women, were plain wire: "The wire was filed down at one end to go through the hole in the ear, and then bent into a loop" (Lund 1976, p. 46). Larry Frank shows a pair made by Gushgi, a Zuni silversmith, and collected at Zuni in 1901, with "heavy silver pomegranates hanging from thick forged silver loops" (Frank 1990). Shortly after 1900, as turquoise became more plentiful, Navajo men gradually returned to the older turquoise nugget earring (Bedinger 1973, p. 57). Our guide, how to choose turquoise earrings, covers more.
Choosing a pair
Posts sit close and stay put; hooks let a drop swing. For everyday wear and sensitive ears, ask what the post or wire is made of. For weight, a large drop pulls on the lobe more than a stud, so check the size in each listing. Turquoise is porous, so put earrings on after perfume and hairspray, not before.
Who made them
Nearly all of these earrings are T.Skies designs, made in our Albuquerque workshop and labeled as ours. A Native-made pair is sold under the artist's name. Native-made vs. T.Skies designs.
The stone
Each listing names the stone. Inlay earrings in our own lines use chip inlay, made from the cut-offs of our own turquoise work; see inlay. Browse the turquoise mines of the Southwest to see turquoise by mine.
More turquoise: All turquoise jewelry · Rings · Necklaces · Bracelets · How to tell real turquoise · Our silversmiths
Turquoise Earrings: Common Questions
Are these turquoise earrings Native American made?
Nearly all are T.Skies designs, and a Native-made pair is sold under the artist's name. We don't sell our signature earrings as Native American jewelry because our pieces are not made by one artist — it's a team effort, and we don't believe in labeling our signature jewelry by our team's ethnicity with a blanket term like Native American. Even though most of the team is Native American, we are of mixed tribes and races. If you are interested in a specific artist or tribal affiliation, we do market jewelry as Native American on an artist-by-artist basis.
Posts or hooks?
Posts sit close and stay put; hooks let a drop swing. Ask what the post or wire is made of if you have sensitive ears.
How do I care for turquoise earrings?
Put them on after perfume, lotion and hairspray. Keep them away from oils, detergents and cleaning solutions, which can change the stone's color, and clean the silver with a polishing cloth, not a dip. See jewelry care.
Is the turquoise treated?
Ask about any stone and we'll tell you how it was treated, if at all. See turquoise terms explained.