The Weight. . .

of the world earrings on your shoulders ears ;)

A while back Kim of Numinosity and Numinosity Beads, mentioned some of her more senior customers have difficulty with heavier earrings. Me too. But I wasn't able to wear heavier earrings when I was younger. They're just not comfortable for me. 

I noticed my friend, Chris Kaitlyn of ChrisKaitlynJewelry, was showing the weight of earrings in listings. I talked to her about it, she shared info, and I decided it was a good idea. At some point I realized that, okay, the weights are there but they're in a vacuum. What do they mean? I know what they mean to me but there isn't a "chart" to help customers decipher what they mean. Honestly, it's not possible. Weight is relative, and involves too many factors. I do, however, have customers ask me from time to time, "are these heavy?" There will never be a hard and fast rule, but I'm going to share with you the guidelines I use for myself.

 My earrings today are designed with beautiful, slim and lightweight ceramic leaves by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. These pieces are fired with leaves embedded, given this gorgeous glazing and fired again. I paired each with three 6mm, Natural Apatite stones. Apatite has become my favorite stone. The color is a rich, muted teal. Purchased from TheFickleBead. There are copper and copper-plated beads up top, along with handcrafted ceramic beads by Barbara Hanselman of BHClaysmith, another unique and talented ceramic artist. I used 22 gauge wire, not my first choice, but I knew it would help to keep them lighter and I'd be able to wrap it the way I wanted to. 

Very few components are "too heavy" to use. It depends what you do with them. It's wonderful to create without thought! It's art! It's what I love to do! But then I often end up with a wall hanging, not an earring. (I think I heard that saying here before) I'll keep going and going and going until they weigh an ounce! Well, what's an ounce you say? Here we get to what the weights mean. One of today's earrings weighs 0.23 oz, 6.68 grams. Less than a quarter of an ounce. A good weight for most women, I think, but it is not featherweight. Lightweight for most, in my opinion, but it won't be long until it creeps up into an area that will be too heavy for me. If I want to wear something all day and not think about it, I won't go much higher than this, around a quarter of an ounce. When I let something get to 0.30 oz. . . . that is getting out of the comfortable range for me, certainly not all-day wearable, and maybe not wearable at all. For Me!

My MIL split her lobe all the way down in her 60s with a gold hoop, so it does happen, even though she'd worn those for decades. 

You are not going to find weights in most shops and websites; It's not a necessary thing for a large part of the population. My customers run the gamut from very young adults to women in their 60s and beyond. It was the questions about the weight that encouraged me to try to find a way to give them a meaningful answer. For designers, if women in the AARP age group (that's 55 and up ;) are in your target market, you might want to think about weight with them in mind.

I see many listings that give the earrings a featherweight, lightweight, or medium weight. If you aren't offered a weight, and IF this is an issue for you, ask the seller for their opinion. On a weight scale of one to ten, where would they put the earrings. Remember, though, that it's an opinion, likely based on what is light, medium or heavy to them. 

If you would like to have a little more detail regarding weights and what they mean to me, please just let me know. I will always address a comment/question left here, and you can always message me through She Flies Again, my Etsy shop, or Facebook.

Thank you for stopping in today! We appreciate it!
Norbel