Tiger Earrings

Tiger earrings bring the animal right up beside the face, and the pairs in this collection span a wide range of styles: small sculpted studs, hoops with a tiger hanging inside, flat cut-out faces under faceted stones, printed drops and a fully beaded statement pair. Gold and silver tones lead the way, and some pairs are offered in a whole run of colors, from pastel shades to black.

Studs and small drops

The Silver Tiger Earrings are studs, each one a small sculpted tiger head with the fur lines shaded dark against a polished brow and muzzle; the option lists them at 10x10mm. Small hinged hoops in silver or gold tone carry a roaring tiger head that swings beneath each one, and another pair sets a pink-red faceted stone in a crown-like stud, with a tiny antique gold-tone tiger head hanging just below.

Hoops with a tiger inside

The Tigress Hoop Earrings hang a wide gold-tone hoop from a small ring at the lobe, with an antiqued tiger head suspended in the middle of the circle, its stripes and snarl picked out in darker shading. The listing gives the size as 6.3x6.6cm, a generous size for a hoop. A lighter version of the idea fits a small openwork tiger face to a slim hinged hoop, in gold or silver.

Cut-out tiger earrings under a faceted stone

One recurring design pairs a faceted stone at the lobe with a flat tiger face cut into lace-like openwork below it. On the Girl Tiger Earrings the stone is a cushion-cut smoky gray held in four prongs above a pale gold face, and the color options run through gray, orange, pink, green, pastel, white and light blue. Variations elsewhere in the collection include a face painted deep mauve-brown under a champagne-colored stone, a face dusted in gold glitter, a pale gold face framed by a ring of iridescent stones, and a silver-tone face with a hammered texture below a square stud. Because the stripes are cut away rather than drawn on, light passes through the gaps, which keeps even the largest faces looking airy.

Beads and printed tigers

The Tiger Boho Earrings are built from beads. Brown, gold and white seed beads form a tiger's face with light blue eyes, a pink nose and gold fangs, edged with a fringe of white and brown beads along the bottom and topped by a round beaded disc. The options offer two versions, Boho and Fancy. The Mountain Tiger Earrings take a printed approach instead: a flat cut-out of a tiger walking straight toward the viewer, hung from fish-hook wires and listed at 1.5x3.7cm.

Sculpted heads and silhouettes

Several pairs hang a sculpted tiger head from fish-hook wires. One roars with its jaws wide open in a silver tone, and another shows a detailed face in antique gold, with gold, silver and rose gold among its options. A flat silhouette of a tiger's head and chest, its stripes picked out in black, gives a lighter look in gold or silver.

A rounder, more playful tiger

Not every pair takes the tiger so seriously. One gold-tone design shows a round, well-fed tiger curled into a circle, stripes cut through the metal and tail swinging beneath, closer in spirit to folk art than to a wildlife portrait. Offered in golden or silver tones, it sits happily beside the beaded face and the printed walking tiger at the lighter-hearted end of the range.

Posts, hooks and hinged hoops

The fastening shapes the look as much as the tiger does. The studs and most of the large statement drops sit on posts, so the stone or beaded disc rests on the lobe and the tiger hangs below it. The printed walking tiger, the sculpted heads and the cut-out silhouettes swing from fish-hook wires, which gives them a little movement. The smallest drops ride on slim hoops that close with a hinge, keeping the tiger close to the ear.

Pairs that match a necklace or bracelet

Some earrings share their design with a necklace. The open-jawed head that roars from silver-tone hooks here also hangs from a chain in our tiger necklace collection, in bronze or silver, and the cut-out silhouette of head and chest is made both as drops and as a pendant on a fine chain. For the wrist, the tiger bracelet collection carries the theme further, from a string of matte black beads around a small sculpted tiger head to braided black leather. The complete tiger jewelry collection brings all of these together with rings, pendants and watches.

Colors taken from the tiger's coat

Many pairs echo the animal's own colors: the orange, black and white of the printed walking tiger, the warm golds of the cut-out faces, and the silver tones that recall a white tiger. One silver-tone pair, a tiger's head turned in profile with its mouth drawn back in a snarl, takes its name from the White Tiger of Chinese tradition, which watches over the west and has long been linked with autumn and with the element metal. The species itself shows more variety than orange and black alone, and our article on the most beautiful tigers in the world looks at the white tiger and at rarer golden and black coats.

Tiger earrings at a glance

Which pairs are the most discreet?

The Silver Tiger Earrings, sculpted studs listed at 10x10mm, sit closest to the ear, followed by the slim hinged hoops with a small tiger head or openwork face hanging from them.

Do any pairs come in several colors?

Yes. The Girl Tiger Earrings run from gray and orange to pink, green, pastel, white and light blue, another cut-out design adds brown and black, and many sculpted and outline pairs are offered in gold or silver tones, one of them in rose gold as well.

Which pairs make the biggest statement?

The Tiger Boho Earrings and the Tigress Hoop Earrings are the boldest, one for its full beaded face and fringe, the other for a hoop listed at 6.3x6.6cm with a tiger head at its center.