Is there no cap on how much we can adorn an ear? Because whenever I think we’re reached peak ear decoration, new and innovative pieces appear in my inbox that nudge old-fashioned earrings and even 2.0 ear climbers into uncharted (and even oddball) territory.

I credit jewelry brand Katkim’s ubiquitious ear pin—a stickpin-like ear adornment that enters a lobe piercing on one end, while wrapping gently around the top of the ear with a hook on the other—with starting the craze for unusual, outsize ear adornments.

Delicate, totally original, and slightly painful-looking (something about its dagger-like silhouette?), Katkim’s pin works beautifully with assorted stud earrings in ear parties. And its high-drama design entrances jewelry lovers by the droves on Instagram. Naturally, copycats abounded.

Now Brazilian designer Jack Vartanian is taking a stab (ha!) at big, bold, and highly unusual earrings. Just this week, his namesake atelier dropped a series of ear pieces fabricated in 18k gold with diamonds and colored stones that alternately cage and encircle the entire ear.

Let’s take a look:

Vartanian’s pieces are beautifully crafted, clearly. But are his—and others’—supersize ear accoutrements too big, too out-there…too much? Likely they will be, for some.

But I’d be thrilled to take the designer’s whole-ear hoops out for a night out on the town—and applaud the atelier’s spirit of playful innovation.

Top: Jack Vartanian 18k white gold earring with diamonds and pink sapphires (all photos courtesy of Jack Vartanian)

Emili Vesilind

JCK Senior Editor