A pair of mid-nineteenth century garnet pendant earrings, of oval form and featuring pear-cut garnets set closed-back and foiled accented by oval-cut rock crystal, also closed-back and foiled, decorated with scrolling foliate motif and circular garlands in 14k gold, suspending a torpedo drop, with shepherd's hook fittings. length 2 in, width 0.6 in, 5.2 grams, circa 1860. 

By 1860 fashion again favored hairstyles swept back away from the face and featuring cascades of curls, in contrast to preceding decades which favored hair that covered the ears. Fashion in hairstyles necessarily affected choices in jewelry, with earrings being rare during the 1840s, but bursting onto the scene in the 1860s in innumerable forms and styles. The 1860s also saw a boom in revivalist jewelry from Etruscan to Egyptian to the Renaissance. Moreover, naturalistic motifs were popular during this period, and novelty jewelry took on new, unprecedented forms such as insects, fish, birds, flowers, lizards, etc. Earrings were immensely popular during this period and grew to enormous proportions during the late 1860s, with some earrings even resting on the shoulders.