Eleven solid gold piercing pieces, from $160 to $295. Daisy, dot, evil eye, feather, heart, maple leaf, moon, sea shell, snake, star and koi fish designs — all small, all flat-backed, all in solid gold rather than vermeil.
That last point is not a stylistic decision. Piercing jewelry sits in tissue for extended periods, often through healing, and the material has to be one that will not react. Everything on this page follows from that constraint. Related: studs, hoop earrings, everyday jewelry and the celestial collection.
Why these are all solid gold
The distinction between a piercing piece and an ordinary earring is where it sits and for how long.
A stud in a healed lobe is in and out daily and sits in tissue that healed years ago. A piercing piece — particularly in a helix, a flat or a conch — often stays in for weeks or months at a time, in tissue that may still be settling. Anything that can wear, flake or react has a much longer opportunity to cause a problem.
Solid 14k gold is 58.3% pure with the gold running throughout. There is no surface layer to wear through and no base metal underneath to be exposed. This is why the entire collection is solid gold and why vermeil — a genuinely good material elsewhere — is not used here. See why 14K solid gold.
Cartilage is not a lobe
The single most useful thing to understand before buying piercing jewelry.
Lobe tissue is soft and vascular. It heals in roughly six to eight weeks, tolerates most jewelry, and forgives changes of earring.
Cartilage is dense and poorly supplied with blood. Helix, conch, flat, tragus and rook piercings can take six months to a year or more to heal properly, and they are far less forgiving. Irritation, bumps and prolonged soreness are common and usually mechanical — caused by pressure, snagging or a backing fastened too tightly — rather than by the metal.
The practical consequences: do not change jewelry in a healing cartilage piercing on your own judgement, and do not assume a lobe stud will work in a cartilage position. Anything for a fresh or healing piercing should be fitted by the piercer who did it.
Choosing a design by position
All eleven pieces here are small and flat, which is what makes them suitable across positions.
Helix — the upper outer edge. Small flat designs sit well. Anything with height catches on hair, hats and pillows, which is the main cause of irritation in this position.
Second and third lobe — the easiest positions to work with. Small pieces are used here so they do not collide with the earring below.
Conch and flat — the inner and upper flat areas. These take flat-backed pieces specifically, and pressure from an ill-fitting back is the usual source of trouble.
Tragus — the small flap in front of the canal. Needs the smallest pieces here, and anything protruding will catch on headphones.
Consult your piercer for the correct gauge and post length for any specific position. Those specifications are not interchangeable, and a post that is too short compresses tissue while one too long snags.
Building a curated ear
If you have several piercings, the arrangement matters more than any single piece.
Scale downward. The largest piece in the first lobe position, getting smaller as they move up the ear. That progression is what makes a set read as designed rather than accumulated. These small motif pieces are intended for the upper positions, with a larger stud or hoop anchoring the lobe.
Repeat rather than match. The same motif at two sizes, or two pieces from the same family — a star and a moon, a daisy and a maple leaf — ties an ear together more convincingly than three identical pieces, which read as a boxed set.
Keep one metal colour across a single ear unless you are mixing deliberately.
Leave space. An ear with three well-placed pieces reads better than one with six crowded together, and crowded jewelry catches on itself.
The designs
The motifs split into a few families. Celestial — moon and star — which pair naturally with pieces from the celestial collection. Botanical — daisy, feather, maple leaf — which pair with floral pieces. Symbolic — evil eye, heart. And animal and nautical — snake, koi fish, sea shell.
None of these carries a strong claim, which makes them easy to wear and easy to give. The evil eye is the most culturally specific and also the most broadly worn.
Fitting and backs
Backs matter more in cartilage than anywhere else. A back fastened too tightly compresses the tissue and causes soreness that is frequently mistaken for a metal reaction or an infection. It should hold the piece securely without pressing.
Flat backs are used in cartilage positions specifically because a butterfly back presses against the head during sleep and against a pillow, which is a persistent source of irritation. Screw or threaded backs cannot work loose, which matters for a piece that stays in for months.
Care
For a healed piercing, solid gold needs very little — a wipe with a soft dry cloth, and no chlorine. It survives showers and sweat without a routine, which is exactly why solid gold suits a piece that stays in.
For a healing piercing, follow the aftercare your piercer gave you rather than general jewelry advice. Do not rotate the jewelry, do not change it early, and do not clean it with anything not recommended for the purpose. See the care guide for the metal itself.
Ordering
Production is 4–6 business days before dispatch. US orders ship from Connecticut with duties included; UK, EU, Canada and Australia orders from London. Every piece carries a 365-day warranty. Stock designs can be returned under standard terms. See shipping and returns and the FAQ.
Planning a set before you get pierced
Most people acquire piercings one at a time and end up with an arrangement they did not plan. It is worth thinking a step ahead, because placement is the one thing that cannot be changed afterwards.
Leave room between positions. Two piercings placed close together limit what can go in either, because the jewelry collides. A helix and a lobe piece with space between them can both be whatever you want; two adjacent helix piercings constrain each other permanently.
Decide where the anchor goes first. If a hoop is going to be the largest piece, it needs a position with clearance below it. Adding a hoop later to a position that already has small studs above it often does not work.
Consider healing time in sequence. Getting several cartilage piercings at once means several simultaneous long heals, all of which are sensitive to sleeping position. Spacing them out is more manageable. See studs and hoop earrings for the pieces that will fill the positions.
Motif pairs and what they suggest
These eleven designs are small enough that the motif reads as a detail rather than a statement, which is what makes them work in multiples.
Pieces from the same family sit together naturally: moon and star, daisy and maple leaf, sea shell and koi fish. Pairing two related motifs across an ear looks deliberate in a way that pairing two unrelated ones does not, and it avoids the flatness of wearing the same piece twice.
These also extend into full pieces from the wider catalogue — a moon piercing beside a star pendant, a maple leaf beside a floral ring — which is a subtler way to build a coherent look than matching a set. See the celestial collection and the floral collection.
As a gift
Piercing jewelry is a good gift for someone who already has the piercings, and a poor one for someone who does not.
The advantages: it needs no size in the way a ring does, the pieces are small enough not to impose a strong style choice, and someone with several piercings always has room for one more piece. The constraint is that gauge and post length are position-specific, so a piece bought without knowing which position it is for may not fit.
The safe approach is to ask which position, or to choose a lobe-compatible piece, which is the most flexible. All of these are stock designs rather than personalised, so they can be returned under standard terms if wrong. See gifts and gifts under $300.
Frequently asked questions
Why is this collection all solid gold?
Because piercing jewelry stays in tissue for extended periods, often through healing. Solid gold has no surface layer to wear through and no base metal underneath to be exposed, which is why vermeil is not used here.
What is the price range?
$160 to $295, all solid gold.
Can I use these in a cartilage piercing?
These are made for piercing positions including cartilage, but gauge and post length differ by position and are not interchangeable. Consult your piercer for the correct specification.
How long does a cartilage piercing take to heal?
Six months to a year or more, compared with roughly six to eight weeks for a lobe. Cartilage is dense and poorly supplied with blood, which is why it is far less forgiving.
Can I change jewelry in a healing piercing?
Not on your own judgement. A healing cartilage piercing should be handled by the piercer who did it. Changing early is a common cause of prolonged irritation.
Why is my piercing sore even though it is healed?
Most often mechanical rather than a metal reaction — a back fastened too tightly compresses the tissue, or the piece catches on hair or a pillow. Flat backs are used in cartilage for exactly this reason.
Will solid gold irritate a piercing?
Far less likely than plated or low-grade alloy jewelry, because there is no nickel or copper base to react. Most reactions people attribute to gold come from base metals in plated pieces.
How do I arrange several piercings?
Scale downward — the largest piece in the first lobe position, getting smaller up the ear. Repeat one element rather than matching exactly, and leave space rather than crowding.
Can I sleep in these?
Flat, low-profile pieces in a healed piercing, yes — that is what they are designed for. Anything with height catches on a pillow and causes irritation.
Can I shower and swim with them in?
In a healed piercing, solid gold handles showers and sweat without a routine. Keep it out of chlorinated pools, which attack the alloy metals. For a healing piercing, follow your piercer's aftercare.