 Among the Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest of America , earrings were a sign of nobility and wealth , as the placement of each earring on a child had to be purchased at an expensive <unk> . Earrings were common in the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt ( 1550 – 1292 BCE ) , generally taking the form of a dangling , gold hoop . Gem @-@ studded , golden earrings shaped like <unk> seem to have been reserved for nobility . The ancient Greeks wore paste pendant earrings shaped like sacred birds or demigods , while the women of ancient Rome wore precious gemstones in their ears . 
