Day night earrings are de rigueur for the well-coiffed woman whether of today or of yesteryear.

Comprised of two elements, the surmount and drop, this versatile type of earring offers the choice of two looks; wearing the top only or together with its removable drop.

French in origin, dating to circa 1820, these Restoration Period 18k gold earrings feature four ebon hued cameos. Each realistic high-relief cameo portrays a woman in profile with upswept curling hair. In the two largest each woman wears a strand of pearls or beads.

Characteristic of the period, all the cameos are slightly different, and the earrings may be worn with the females facing inward toward the face, or outward.

Slim 18k bezels surround each cameo of black glass and their original back-to-front ear wires still remain. So too do the French hallmarks!

Note: The Restoration period in France is equivalent to the Later Georgian period in England. It is interesting to know that bigorne hallmarks were used from 1818 onward only in France.