Keeping Your Earrings Where They Belong
Yeah, it happens to us too. When Izzy listened to his mother’s story, he almost immediately understood what happened. Screw backs are a definitive improvement over standard friction back earrings, which are the kind almost everybody wears. You know, the ones with the back that slides on and off relatively easily. Who hasn’t lost an earring with those backings? It’s never fun when that happens, and it’s painful when you lose a beautiful or expensive earring.
That’s how screw back earrings came to exist. The backings, quite literally, screw on to the post which affords much greater security. Like most things in life though, there are trade-offs. With screw back earrings, the trade off is in ease of use, comfort, and durability. Simply put, a lot of people have a hard time getting them on and off. They require a degree of finesse to line up and a fair bit of patience to fully tighten or to take off. We also hear some complaints about the longer posts poking people when they use their phones or sleep. Ouch! Not exactly what you might have been expecting, but still for the security it might be a tradeoff you’re willing to make. It’s a little harder to accept when the screw back fails, and you lose an earring though, which is exactly what happened to Izzy’s mother. Ultimately, it’s possible to rush getting your earrings on or off and accidentally strip the threads of the screw backs. Once that happens, all of the protection is gone, and it’s a matter of time before an earring gets lost.
After this had happened to one of our own, Izzy set his attention to solving this problem for everyone. After doing a lot of research, he found a new patented product called Protektor back earrings. These are similar to friction back, but with one profound difference. The posts of the earrings are notched, and the back of the earring is designed to slide on and lock in place at the notch. The circular disc back has two levers that must both be depressed to release the back. They are easy to slide on and easy to take off. Without the need to an extended area for threads on the post, these are similar in length to standard friction back earrings, so no more painful phone calls or disturbed sleep.
So, what’s the trade-off with Protekor backs? Well, that’s a smart question. Protektor backs are more expensive than either friction back or screw backs, so it might not be the best option for every set of earrings. Where it does make sense is when you have an expensive, important set of earrings that you don’t want to lose or if you have limited mobility or manual dexterity and don’t mind the added expense.
One of our former Jewelers was so passionate about the subject that she put together a short video to show you the differences between screw backs and Protektor backs. We hope that you find it informative and if you still have questions, feel free to call us or stop in at either location, and we’ll be happy to help.
