Triple Hoop Earrings in Silver-Plated Stainless Steel

Three narrow bands make up a single 2-centimetre hoop

Look closely at the curve and it splits into three: three round bands of the same thickness, laid alongside one another and joined only at the two ends. Two shallow grooves run between them, and those grooves hold on to hairspray and hand cream far more readily than a flat face would, so a dry wipe along the bands after wearing is worth the ten seconds. The card supplied with the pair reads stainless steel, grade 316, the grade usually printed on jewellery meant for everyday wear. The same steel runs through steel earrings in both silver and gold tones.

Where the light catches, and where it drops away

At 2 centimetres across the hoop sits level with the lobe and barely clears it. Head on, the three bright lines widen the shape and the earring reads larger than the measurement suggests; turned to the side, it thins down to a single stroke. That gap between the two views is what separates a multi-band hoop from a plain one.

Printed on the card, visible in the photograph

Between the packaging and the product shot, five points can be checked before ordering.

The clear back, and why it is there

The pack does not stop at one kind of back. Beside the metal butterfly, the photograph shows a clear one. There is no hinge anywhere on this pair. The post passes straight through the pierced lobe and the back holds it from behind, which is all this style of hoop asks for. Anyone after a heavier or a much finer curve will find it among hoops in a wider range of profiles.

What marks a bright finish, and what does not

A bright surface shows small scratches sooner than a brushed one, and most of them come from a jewellery box shared with harder pieces; laid flat and away from sharp edges, the hoop keeps the finish it arrived with. Chlorinated water is the other thing to watch, less for the steel itself than for the deposits it leaves in the grooves. Perfume and hairspray, sprayed before the earrings go on rather than after, stay off the metal altogether.