Lightweight Earrings: Why Weight Matters, and How Light Printed Pairs Are

The earrings people stop wearing are the heavy ones. Weight is what makes a pair comfortable at eight in the evening, and it is where a printed pair is unlike anything else.

What a comfortable earring weighs

Under about three grams an earring, most people forget they are wearing it. Between three and five grams it is noticeable by evening. Above five, a lobe starts to feel it within an hour, and worn daily over years, heavy earrings stretch the piercing. Small metal studs sit at one or two grams; metal statement drops and hoops routinely reach six to twelve.

Metal, resin, printed plastic

• Brass and silver are dense: eight and ten grams per cubic centimetre. A big shape is a heavy shape, and there is no way around it except making it thin.
• Resin is about a gram per cubic centimetre, but cast solid. A large resin drop is lighter than metal and still adds up.
• Printed PLA is about 1.2 grams per cubic centimetre, and a printer builds the shape hollow wherever the design allows, with a thin skin and a sparse lattice inside. A large printed drop that would be eight grams in brass weighs one and a half.

Which printed styles are lightest

Everything here is light, but the flat designs are lightest of all: studs, flat drops like leaves and flowers, and filigree, which is mostly air. Large multi-part designs such as articulated dinosaurs are the heaviest in the shop, and they are still a few grams.

What about the hook?

The hook or post is metal and weighs a fraction of a gram. If the metal itself is the problem for your ears rather than the weight, ask us about the findings before you order.

Big without the weight

This is the reason to own a printed pair: shapes that are normally a trade-off, large hoops, long drops, intricate lace, become an everyday choice. Read more in the guide to 3D printed earrings.