Vintage earrings with imitation diamonds.

Silver, partially gold-plated; the ear hooks are hallmarked. Length (measured without the hooks) 32.63 mm. 3.7 g.

Pair of antique drop earrings, late 18th/early 19th century, with diamond imitations in various shapes. With long ear hooks; the backs are gold-plated in the style of the period. The ear hooks have been replaced more recently; they likely originally featured a “jour-et-nuit” function (allowing the earrings to be worn short during the day and long in the evening by attaching the lower extensions), though this feature is no longer present due to the new, continuous ear hooks.

The imitations used are glass pastes, which enjoyed great popularity since their popularization by the French court jeweler Georg Friedrich Strass (1701–1773). As a fashion trend, they did not necessarily serve solely as a concrete substitute for real gemstones, but were in demand due to their novelty. By backing them with silver foil, diamonds—and, with the help of differently colored foils, other gemstones—could be imitated. Due to the manufacturing process, the stones have a black dot in the center when viewed from above.