How to Style Thoughtful Earring Stacks with Natural Diamonds

Your perfect earscape starts here.

By Paula Lee | May 20, 2025

Jewelry lovers will look for any excuse to wear more adornments, and earring stacks offer the perfect opportunity. By simple math, more ear piercings equal more jewelry. And with all the beautiful, glittering natural diamond earrings beckoning, the temptation is certainly hard to resist.

In recent years, earring stacks have evolved beyond the simple first and second holes, forming a dotted trail that curves up the ear (the particularly daring are also going for nose piercings). Celebrities showing off their sparkly wares on the red carpet make a strong case for the trend, while luxury piercing salons continue to innovate and contribute to the movement that shows no signs of fading.

Meet the Experts

How to Style Thoughtful Earring Stacks with Natural Diamonds

Alysa Teichman, founder of Wildlike and a third-generation fine jewelry expert, brings deep industry knowledge and hands-on experience to the art of modern piercing.

Maria Tash, a global leader in luxury piercing, has revolutionized the industry with her innovative techniques, patented placements, and decades of experience as a fine jewelry designer and piercer.

The Rise of Earring Stacks

The rise of curated earring stacks is rooted in the ‘more is more’ mentality, according to Alysa Teichman, founder of Wildlike, a piercing retail concept (and sister store to fine jewelry stalwart Ylang23) in Dallas. “That being said, we are seeing a trend toward either tiny pieces or bigger, bolder pieces, specifically in diamonds. Our clients also love to change out their healed piercings to hoops and add fun dimensional elements like charms and chaining.”

How to Style Earring Stacks with Natural Diamonds

Indeed, the styling possibilities are endless. When building your earring stack, mix and match dainty diamond-studded chains and pavé huggies for texture, or personalize your stack with initials, zodiacs and other meaningful motifs. A statement piece can also visually anchor the arrangement. And don’t underestimate a constellation of twinkling natural diamond studs in various sizes—a versatile and elegant interpretation that works day or evening.

No piercing (yet)? No problem. Mimic the effect with ear cuffs, climbers or clever designs that give the illusion of multiple piercings. If this sounds a bit overwhelming (in the best way, of course), heed an expert’s take.

Expert Tips on Building Your Earring Stack

“When curating an ear, I think it is helpful to consider the type of piercings you want to collect and their spacing,” advises piercing pioneer and jewelry designer Maria Tash, who founded her first New York City piercing studio in 1993 and now has locations across the globe. “Usually, we start with the location on the ear and then consider ring versus stud balance for multiple piercings.”

Popular Piercing Placements for Perfect Earring Stacks

Whether you already have an idea in mind or not, the piercer can help you map out harmonious placements—from the lobe to the helix, rook, conch, tragus and in between—to suit your ear anatomy, lifestyle and overall earring stack vision. “The conch is a very popular piercing, as it’s relatively easy to heal for most and a fun way to dip into cartilage piercings,” notes Teichman of what she’s seeing from her clients at Wildlike. “The ability to change out a conch stud for a larger hoop is a fan favorite!”

Tash, the go-to piercer for bold-named celebrities, even coined and patented “hidden” piercings placed in unexpected regions. “We see stacked earlobe piercings continuing to be popular; and in cartilage, the TASH Rook, Contraconch, TASH Helix, and Hidden TASH Rook are exotic and popular,” she shares. The latter two are “particularly interesting as they allow stones and drapes to mysteriously emerge from the folds of the ear for a flash of shine.” We can’t think of a more appealing way to wear natural diamonds in earring stacks.

Creating Balanced and Intentional Earring Stacks

“In addition to the choice of jewelry style,” Tash elaborates, “I suggest balancing three forces: skin tone, personal aesthetic, and the weight and style of the pieces that are placed next to each other. A look is clean and readable if it looks deliberate, well fit, and intentional about composition, and that’s our goal.”

Ultimately, as with any natural diamond jewelry purchase, it comes down to personal taste and what you’re emotionally drawn towards. “I always recommend that people start by picking jewelry they love,” enthuses Teichman. “Personally, I have a stash of great earrings that I move around my ears to create different looks seasonally. When you start with great jewelry and work with experienced piercers, it’s so easy to create beautifully designed ears.”

Below, start building your natural diamond earring stack with styles from some of our favorite designers.