I fell in love with these earrings when I saw a photo of the late Diana, Princess of Wales wearing the pearl drop version. Being a magpie, I preferred the crystal ones, and seeing them in Vivienne Becker’s 1988 book, Fabulous Fakes, cemented my lust.

These come up periodically on Ebay but I’ve always seemed to just miss them. When this pair appeared a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time. I was thrilled to receive them in their original packaging (with a charming note from the original owner). They are totally 80s: brash, bright and at 2 inches long, probably too big and heavy for me to ever wear. But I adore looking at them.

Here they are in the book on the page showing the pearl drops, and a slightly different pair of the crystal drops (the bead at the top is more faceted on mine). Love. Of course, now I’ll have to hunt down the pearl version….!