Hooked on Trollbeads

I had my ears pierced when I was young, but for the last few years I haven’t worn earrings on a regular basis. I’m not sure why I stopped, to be honest. But, about a year ago I spotted the Trollbeads earring hooks online and was intrigued by the idea of using the hooks as simple, everyday earrings. I checked with my local Trollbeads store, but they didn’t carry the earrings or the rest of the jewellery line. So I decided to check out my other options.

I knew that Pandora also had similar hooks, but I hadn’t looked at them closely. I looked at Etsy and a few other online stores, but had the same issue as with the Trollbeads hooks: without being able to see them in person, I didn’t know if they would be the right size or how they would really look when worn. A trip to the Pandora store ruled out the Pandora hooks, but the Trollbeads version remained on my “thinking about” list until I could find enough real-life pictures to get an idea of what they were really like.

Then, a few weeks ago I wandered into one of my local Trollbeads dealers. She moved her shop at the beginning of the year, but I hadn’t been in to see the new location or to see if she had any of the more recent releases. I had some time to kill before a meeting and was driving right by, so I decided to stop in. Just to browse.

Of course, browsing always carries the risk of buying and I walked out with my green braid. But, as she pulled out the bead tray, I thought that I spotted the silver Sun Circle earrings in the storage tray below. I wasn’t 100% sure, but the idea stayed with me that night. And, because she had a smaller inventory that my other local dealer, I hadn’t bothered to ask her about the earrings when I started looking a year ago. The next day, I went back to see if she had the hooks.

She did. I loved them. They came home with me. As did the Sun Circle earrings (oops).

I wore the hooks and Sun Circle earrings for a few days, then had an idea to make a set of earrings using silver clay and to add texture using my kids’ fingerprints. Usually I’m telling my kids not to touch my silver clay, so they were quite excited that I was encouraging it this time! And I really like how the earrings turned out. At the same time I was also checking out the other Trollbeads earring components. They start at around the same price as a bead and go up quickly, so I told myself I would only buy them if I came across them on sale.

And what do you know, a few days later I came across an online store clearing out their inventory, including the Chalcedony earrings. Even on sale, they were still a bit pricey, so I really debated whether I wanted them; with nothing but Google images to go on, I wasn’t sure of how much variation they had or what they really looked like in person. After going back and forth for a week, I finally took the plunge and ordered them, thinking that I wouldn’t find them on sale again.

I hate to say it, but I was really disappointed when they arrived.

I don’t know if they are usually this pale or if I got a bit of a dud pair. Another collector said that they were her favourite earrings, but mine don’t glow the way she described hers as glowing. Even in direct light, they’re pale. And dull. I even tried to stack them with the Sun Circle components, but the two together wouldn’t fit on the hooks. I’m hoping that I grow to like them, or that maybe I can make a silver component to go with them that will spruce them up a bit, but every time I look at them I just think about the bead that I could have bought instead.

The earring hooks are still in almost daily use, though, with one component or another. Recently I even took apart a necklace that had a broken clasp and repurposed two of the beads for earring components!

By the way, my idea of using the hooks by themselves never panned out. They are a bit too simple by themselves. Thankfully, I really love the components that I have for them!