These would be made into EarHugs on sterling silver (not plated) wire. These two were my first combos: left - onyx round beneath lime pearl; right - black pearl (has a slight dark, dark green cast) beneath lime pearl.
Pro, left: The look of the glossy black onyx is terrific beneath the cool lime pearl. Using the lightweight pearl with the heavier onyx bead keeps these earrings just barely within EarHug-lightness range (if they get too heavy they won't stay in your ears, so I have to watch that).
Con, left: The holes in the onyx are a litte big for the wire I use! Instability issues set in! A third "keeper" bead would have to be added at the bottom, creating even more instability issues! These will never become EarHugs!
The Fix: This color pairing - and most of the ones below with onyx or heavier beads - would work better as wired dangles, dropped from an ear wire, in this design, with two stones (gold-fill wire could be used, too):
Back to that first image.
Pro, right: Both pearls - black and lime - are the perfect weight for Hugs. The colors go well together.
Con, right: The colors don't go quite as well as the ones on the left.
Here we have Korean jade paired with the onyx. These were heavy, but the color of the jade is striking. They would have to be dangles rather than EarHugs.
I've flipped the colors. This image also shows very well the difference between the lime green stones. Again, the jade/onyx pairing would have to be a dangle; the onyx/pearl work as Hugs (just - I would recommend wearing ear clutches), and in this case the pearl acts as the bottom "keeper" bead.
Here on the left we have the bead slippage problem fixed with the addition of a tiny onyx "keeper" bead on the bottom. Also, the top bead is a small lime jasper bead, more opaque than the jade. It would definitely not work as an EarHug and would need to be dangled, which would be quite pretty.
On the right is a combination that would work perfectly as Hugs. The lower bead is lime howlite.
Here's a close-up of the black/lime pearls.
This is onyx with the lime jasper beneath. Not too heavy, no instability issues, might fall just within the Hugs range, but would be better as a dangle.
The bottom line on these is that I'd prefer to do a dangle on the combinations using onyx, unless we went with a tiny onyx bead, either above or below one of the lime stones/pearls. Also, gold-filled wire/earwires might look great with the color combo, but if we're matching other jewelry and have to stick to silver that certainly works.
