How Much Do Moissanite Earrings Cost? (2026 Size & Price Guide)

The earring question we get asked most is not about stones. It is about numbers: what a pair costs, what the millimetres mean on an actual ear, and whether the back survives a night you forget to take them out. Earrings are also the smallest piece in the line, so the price is decided by a handful of choices rather than by a large material bill.

Short answer: our moissanite earrings run from $29 to $209 a pair as of 27 September 2026, every pair in 925 sterling silver with the stones set. Stud earrings — 50 of the 66 pairs in the line — are $29 to $159. Hoops are $59 to $119. Drops and dangles are $49 to $209. The middle of the line is $69 to $79, and 25 of the 66 pairs sit between $59 and $79. There is no separate stone charge and no separate setting fee; the pair price is the pair price. For scale, a US retailer publishes 1 carat total weight round diamond studs in 14k white gold at $2,947 to $3,780 (Blue Nile product listings, checked 27 September 2026). That is a different stone in a different metal, so it is not a like-for-like pair — but it is the number most people are weighing us against, and it belongs on the page rather than left implied. Below: what the material is, every price in our own line, what moves those numbers, how to pick a diameter, the posts and backs that decide whether you keep wearing them, and what to do if your lobe reacts.

What a pair of moissanite earrings actually is

Moissanite is silicon carbide — a crystal grown in a laboratory rather than mined. Its hardness is 9.25 on the Mohs scale, which puts it second only to diamond among the materials used in everyday jewellery (Kurt Nassau, “Synthetic moissanite: A new man-made jewel,” Current Science, Vol. 79 No. 11, 10 December 2000). Two of its properties matter more on an earring than on a chain. The first is why people confuse it with diamond: the Gemological Institute of America's lab note on synthetic moissanite describes a stone that can be “mistaken for diamond because some of its properties approach those of diamond, namely hardness and thermal conductivity,” while its other properties are “quite different from diamond, such as a much higher dispersion (leading to more obvious fire)” (GIA, Gems & Gemology lab notes, Fall 2020). The second is weight: the same note gives specific gravities of 3.52 for diamond against 3.22 for moissanite, so a stone of the same diameter is lighter — which is worth knowing when the pair has to hang from a lobe all day.

Two things we do not do. We do not describe moissanite as diamond, because it is not one: under the US Federal Trade Commission's jewellery rules, only diamond may be described with the unqualified word diamond (16 CFR § 23.12). And we do not publish a diamond-style grading scale for it, because none exists. GIA's lab note gives one stone's clarity as equivalent to a diamond grade only inside a bracket, with the words “if such clarity grades were assigned to synthetic moissanite” (GIA, Fall 2020). They are not assigned. What we do state is our own buying standard — D–F colour, VVS-grade clarity, held across the line. That is the standard we buy to, not a laboratory grade, and we would rather label it honestly than dress it up.

The base metal is 925 sterling silver. Under 16 CFR § 23.5(b)(2) a piece may be described as sterling silver only if it is at least 925 parts per thousand silver, and where a rhodium layer goes on top of the silver for brightness we disclose it, which is also what the rules require for a rhodium surface layer (16 CFR § 23.7). On the iced pairs, stones are set one at a time under a microscope. The reason is the only one buyers ask about: stones that stay where they were put.

Our prices, line by line

These are our own selling prices — what a customer pays — read from our catalogue on 27 September 2026 and quoted in USD, per pair, stones set.

Prices are our selling prices as of 27 September 2026. Read the numbers by line, not by mood: $29–$159 is the stud line, and $29–$209 is the whole category — the top of the category is a dangle, not a stud, so a stud at $159 is the most expensive stud we make.

Here is the ladder in actual pieces, so the range stops being abstract:

Codes are our own reference numbers, so you can point at one pair when you message us. Prices as of 27 September 2026.

What actually moves the price

Five things, and none of them is a stone brand, because moissanite has no brand — it is a material, sold by the millimetre like any other.

• Diameter. A pair of 4mm rounds and a pair of 10mm squares are the same two posts and the same two backs with very different stones in them. Diameter is the single biggest lever on a stud, and the reason our stud line stretches from $29 to $159.
• Stone count and setting pattern. A single solitaire is one stone in one setting. An iced pair is a field of small stones: more setting labour, more stone surface, more places for light to come off. Our line covers prong-set pairs, micro-pavé iced pairs, a bezel-set pair, a reverse-set huggie and hand-set pieces — the differences in the basket, not in the material, are what you are paying for.
• Shape of the cut. At the same diameter, a round brilliant and a cushion, radiant, asscher, emerald or pear cut are different amounts of cutting work. Our line runs the same 925 silver and the same stone standard through all of them, which is why a $49 cushion pairs with a $29 round in the same size band.
• Metal and finish. Silver, then a gold or rhodium finish on top. A finish is a difference in look and upkeep, not in what the stones are — and any rhodium layer is disclosed, as 16 CFR § 23.7 requires.
• Weight of metal, on the non-studs. Hoops and dangles carry more silver than a stud, and a 14mm openwork dangle carries more than a 5mm hoop. That is where the drop line's $49–$209 spread mostly comes from.

What size should you get?

Buy earrings by millimetre, not by carat. Carat is a weight, and on an ear the number that people actually notice is the diameter facing out. A useful anchor: a US retailer lists its 1 carat total weight round diamond studs — two stones of about half a carat each — at a 5.00mm face-up width (Blue Nile product listing, checked 27 September 2026). So a 5mm round reads roughly as a classic half-carat stud, and 6.5mm reads a clear step up.

Our own pairs that carry a measurement in the name run from 5mm to 14mm, which gives you usable rungs to climb:

• 5mm — the smallest we make with a number on it. A 5mm round-hoop pair is $69, and there is a 5×7mm pear stud at $89 for a slightly longer look.
• 6.5mm — the middle of the range and the most useful single size. A 6.5mm white, black or pink pair is $39; the 6.5mm square-frame iced pair is $89.
• 8mm to 9mm — statement territory on a standard lobe. The 8mm flower stud is $39, the 8.8mm flower-motif stud is $49, and the 9mm iced flower is $79.
• 10mm and up — the 10mm square iced pair is $79, the 10×13mm oval is $99, the 13.5mm lightning-bolt dangle is $69 and the 14mm openwork dangle is $99. These are the pairs that get noticed before you speak.
• Cut rather than diameter — our emerald-cut pair spans 0.8ct to 3ct for $59, so if you want the long, straight look that shape gives, it does not cost more than a round of similar presence.

Lobe size decides more than fashion does. Retailer fitting guidance in the trade is consistent on the pattern: smaller lobes suit 4–5mm, an average adult lobe takes 5–6.5mm comfortably, and a fuller lobe can carry 7mm and above without the stone tipping forward. (Sizing guidance published by jewellery retailers and piercers, e.g. GLEEI, “Moissanite Stud Earrings: Size, Visual Mass,” checked 27 September 2026 — retailer guidance, not an independent standard.) The practical version of all of it:

• One pair for everything: 6mm to 6.5mm, in a four-prong or bezel setting. It reads as jewellery at a desk and still shows in a photograph.
• Second and third piercings: size down. A 4mm or 5mm does the job a 10mm cannot in a stacked ear.
• Statement: size up to 8mm or above and keep the rest of the ear quiet.
• If you are between two sizes: go smaller for daily wear and larger for occasion wear. A pair that asks for your attention is a pair you take off.

Posts and backs: the part that decides whether you keep wearing them

Almost every pair that gets lost, or ends up in a drawer, fails on the post or the closure — not on the stone. The retail standard for an earring post is 20 gauge, which is 0.8mm across; 18 gauge is 1.0mm and 16 gauge is 1.2mm (standard body-jewellery gauge conversion tables; Obsidian Needles ear-lobe gauge and post-length chart, checked 27 September 2026). Gauge runs backwards: a lower number is a thicker post. That matters because a thin post under a heavy dangle is a lever, and the piercing trade's own guidance is that sustained weight on a 20 gauge post is what gradually pulls a piercing downward over time.

The backs do different jobs, and the right answer depends on how you wear the pair:

• Butterfly push-back — what most retail studs ship with, quick to take on and off, and fine for a solitaire you remove nightly. This is what most of our stud pairs carry.
• Screw-back — a threaded post and a screw closure. Slower to take off, far harder to lose. Worth it for a larger or heavier stud you intend to keep in for days.
• Huggie and hoop closures — a hinge or a click closure instead of a post-and-back. The most secure option in a daily-wear earring, and the reason hoops get worn non-stop. Our C-shape, cross and everyday unisex hoops run $59 to $119.
• Flat-back — a flat disc instead of a butterfly, so nothing presses into the back of the lobe, which is the shape people with a newly pierced or easily irritated ear ask for.

One piece of advice that saves money: if you are ordering a dangle or a large stud, ask us about the post rather than assuming. And never stretch a tight post. If a pair does not go in comfortably, the answer is a different post, not a firmer push.

Moissanite studs vs diamond studs — the honest comparison

This is the table people actually want, with published retail numbers on one side and our catalogue on the other:

Diamond figures are a retailer's own published listings, not an independent price index, and they describe diamond in 14k gold — a different stone in a different metal from ours. Our figures are our selling prices on the date shown.

Three things worth saying plainly, because that table on its own is not the whole story.

They are different materials, and we do not blur it. Moissanite is silicon carbide; diamond is carbon. They differ in hardness, in density and in price, and they are sold under different rules. Under the FTC's guidance, a seller of a simulated or imitation stone has to tell the buyer it is not diamond, by describing it as imitation or simulated immediately next to the word diamond rather than somewhere in a footnote (FTC, “In the Loupe: Advertising Diamond, Gemstones and Pearls”). The cleanest way to obey that rule is simply to name the stone, which is why this page says moissanite throughout.

What you are buying with the difference is size and number of stones. The same money that buys one small graded diamond pair in our size range buys a visibly larger moissanite pair — or three pairs. On an ear, where the only thing anyone sees is diameter, that trade is unusually good.

What you give up is resale. Diamond holds secondhand value better than any other stone; moissanite has no meaningful resale market. If you are buying value you might one day want back, that argument is worth respecting, and we would rather say so than sell you the wrong pair. If you are buying how the ear looks tonight, it does not apply.

Sensitive ears — and the word “hypoallergenic”

If your ears have reacted to cheap earrings before, you are the buyer this section is for, and the useful information is not a label. It is the metal. The FDA's own consumer page on the claim is blunt about it: “There are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term ‘hypoallergenic.’ The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean” (US Food and Drug Administration, “Cosmetics Safety Q&A: Hypoallergenic”). So we do not use the word as a claim on our listings. What we do instead is tell you what the pair is made of: 925 sterling silver at the base, and a gold or rhodium finish on top where the piece has one, disclosed the way 16 CFR § 23.7 requires.

Two practical notes. First, a reaction is usually to the metal that touches the piercing, so ask about the post and the back, not just the face of the earring. Second, if you know exactly what you react to, tell us before ordering — we make to order, and it is far easier to build a pair with the metal you want than to exchange one afterwards.

Wearing them every day

Earrings are the piece that meets the most: perfume, hairspray, headphones, pillows, the shower. Here is what survives it. The stones do not care — silicon carbide does not tarnish, cloud or fade. The metal does. The 925 sterling silver underneath can darken over time, and the finish on top wears first at the points that rub most, which on an earring is the post and the back. The finish-by-finish detail is set out in Does Moissanite Tarnish? 925 Silver & Gold Plating; the short version is that drying a pair before you put it away is worth more than any polish you buy.

Two habits from GIA's care guidance are worth knowing on densely set pairs. Do not rinse jewellery over an open sink — that is where loose stones and whole pairs disappear (GIA, “Tips on Caring for Jewelry,” 10 December 2015). And a home ultrasonic cleaner's vibration can shake stones loose, so on a micro-pavé pair let a bench jeweler run it and check the settings at the same time. Sleeping in a pair is a personal call: a huggie or a flat-back will take it, and a heavy dangle will not.

If the question in your head is whether they will read as diamond to other people, that is a separate read: Does Moissanite Pass a Diamond Tester? covers what a tester proves (less than people think) and why the FTC has a note about it; Moissanite vs CZ vs Lab Diamond covers how the three stones differ in hardness, fire and price.

What ships with a pair, and what does not

Each pair ships with a certificate confirming the stone is moissanite. What it is not is a grading report: there is no diamond-style clarity grade for moissanite to report, as GIA's own lab note makes clear (GIA, Gems & Gemology lab notes, Fall 2020). If a seller offers you a diamond-style grade on a moissanite pair, ask which laboratory stands behind it and what you would do with it in ten years. If you want the material itself explained from the ground up — what silicon carbide is, how it is grown, how it compares with diamond — that is in What Is Moissanite? The Complete 2026 Guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much do moissanite earrings cost?
In our workshop, moissanite earrings run from $29 to $209 a pair as of 27 September 2026, stones set, in 925 sterling silver. Stud earrings are $29 to $159 and make up 50 of the 66 pairs in the line; hoops are $59 to $119; drops and dangles are $49 to $209. The middle of the line is $69 to $79.

Are moissanite earrings worth it?
For the look on your ear, a moissanite pair at $29 to $209 does the work that a US retailer prices at $2,947 to $3,780 for 1 carat total weight round diamond studs in 14k white gold, checked 27 September 2026. What you do not get is a diamond, or its resale value. Earrings are the smallest piece in a jewellery box, so this is where the material difference buys the most look for the least money — and also where the resale argument should matter least to you.

What size moissanite studs should I get?
Buy by millimetre, not by carat. A US retailer lists its 1 carat total weight round diamond studs, two stones of about half a carat each, at 5.00mm face-up width, so a 5mm round reads like a classic half-carat stud and 6.5mm reads a step larger. Our pairs that carry a measurement in the name run from 5mm to 14mm. If you want one pair that covers everything, 6mm to 6.5mm is the safe middle; size down for second piercings and up if you want the earrings to be the point of the outfit.

Is moissanite the same as a diamond?
No. Moissanite is silicon carbide; a diamond is carbon. They are different materials with different hardness, different density and different prices, and we do not describe one as the other. Moissanite is also not graded on the diamond clarity scale, so a diamond-style grading report for it does not exist.

Do moissanite earrings tarnish?
The stones cannot tarnish, because tarnish is a reaction that happens on metal. The 925 sterling silver under them can darken over time, and any rhodium or gold finish on top slows that down until the finish wears. Earrings are worn against skin and hair all day and are the pieces most likely to meet perfume, hairspray and the shower, so drying them before you put them away is worth more here than on a chain.

Are moissanite earrings ok for sensitive ears?
Our pairs are made in 925 sterling silver, and where a gold or rhodium finish is applied we say so. There is no federal standard or definition behind the word hypoallergenic in the United States — the FDA's own consumer page says the term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean — so we do not use it as a claim. Tell us what you have reacted to before and we will tell you exactly what the pair in question is made of, including the post.

Do moissanite earrings pass a diamond tester?
On a pocket thermal tester, they read like diamond — which is a quirk of heat conductivity, not proof of anything. The FTC's guidance says that thermal testers used to distinguish diamonds from cubic zirconia may not accurately identify moissanite, and that the stone may falsely register as a diamond. A bench jeweler identifies it with a different instrument in seconds.

Sources: US Federal Trade Commission jewelry rules, 16 CFR § 23.5(b)(2) (silver content), § 23.7 (disclosure of a rhodium surface layer) and § 23.12 (definition and misuse of the word diamond); Federal Trade Commission, “In the Loupe: Advertising Diamond, Gemstones and Pearls” (imitation and simulated stones; thermal testers and moissanite); US Food and Drug Administration, “Cosmetics Safety Q&A: Hypoallergenic,” fda.gov/cosmetics/resources-consumers-cosmetics/cosmetics-safety-qa-hypoallergenic (no federal standards or definitions govern the term); Gemological Institute of America, Gems & Gemology lab notes, Fall 2020, “Synthetic Moissanite with Fraudulent GIA Inscription” (hardness and thermal conductivity approach diamond's; much higher dispersion; specific gravities 3.52 and 3.22; no clarity grades assigned to synthetic moissanite); Gemological Institute of America, “Tips on Caring for Jewelry,” 10 December 2015 (sink rinsing, ultrasonic cautions, setting checks); Kurt Nassau, “Synthetic moissanite: A new man-made jewel,” Current Science, Vol. 79 No. 11, 10 December 2000 (hardness 9.25); Blue Nile product listings for 1 carat total weight round diamond studs in 14k white gold, and for the 5.00mm face-up width of that pair, checked 27 September 2026 (a retailer's own published listings, cited as market context rather than an independent price index); GLEEI, “Moissanite Stud Earrings: Size, Visual Mass,” checked 27 September 2026, for lobe-size guidance; Obsidian Needles, “Ear Lobe Piercing Gauge Sizes & Post Length Chart,” and standard body-jewellery gauge conversion tables for post gauge (0.8mm at 20 gauge, 1.0mm at 18 gauge, 1.2mm at 16 gauge) — retailer and piercing-trade references rather than independent standards. Prices in this article are our own catalogue prices as of 27 September 2026 in USD and are the amounts a customer pays. This page describes how the pieces are built and priced; it is not a warranty.