Posts, Ear Wires, Leverbacks

When I first started making earrings I always used ear wires and learned how to make them. Then there were times that the design just didn’t look right with an ear wire. Other times I felt that the weight of the earring required a post so that the earring would stay snug against the earlobe and be extra secure.

Most people know what a post earring means, but the term ear wire isn’t always so clear. Ear wires include kidney ear wire, hook ear wire and then leverbacks. I don’t usually call leverbacks ear wires, but the searches I’ve done in vendor catalogs and websites include leverbacks under their ear wire category.

Ear wires come in all sorts of metals, but I only use sterling silver, gold, gold-fill or surgical steel. My poor mama’s earlobes had terrible reactions to earrings, so I always want to use materials that won’t upset anyone’s ears!

Knowing the terminology helps you describe your earrings (and possible repairs) to your jeweler. Here’s a little visual to help you see just a few examples of ear wires and what they’re called:

Check out some KBeau jewelry earrings here!