Five-Petal Diamond Stud Earrings in 18k Gold

18k yellow gold, 72 baguette and round diamonds, 0.69 ct · 18k rose gold, 72 baguette and round diamonds, 0.63 ct

Five petals radiate from the center of each stud, built with baguettes along the edges and round brilliants through the field. Seventy-two stones average under a hundredth of a carat apiece, and at that size the individual diamonds stop registering. What you see is a continuous worked surface of light in the shape of a flower.

Choose the metal. Yellow gold is the traditional setting for a floral motif and the reason is optical: the warm metal carries the form while the diamonds carry the bloom. Rose gold takes its color from copper in the alloy, which reads the diamonds a shade warmer and softens the piece rather than sharpening it. That copper also makes rose the hardest of the golds at the same karat, so it resists the fine surface scratches studs pick up from daily handling.