Stud earrings are simple earrings that are comprised of a pearl, metal ball, gemstone or diamond on an earring post. They work well for work or casual wear, but most women want more drama for evening and formal wear. Since good quality studs, such as diamonds or precious stones, can be an investment, finding a way to convert them to dangle earrings lets you get even more value and wear out of your best stud earrings.
Buy some earring jackets. There are many different styles of dangle earring jackets available from jewelers and online retailers, so you can get several pairs to maximize your options. They are meant to slip on and off your studs so that you can change them at will.
Take a favorite pair of dangle earrings and remove the earwire. Place another small ring at the top, if needed, to keep them facing front, and use them as jackets. Most of the time you should be able to slip them back on the earwire to use the drops again on their own.
Have a jeweler solder a ring onto the base of your stud to attach a drop if you wish to make them permanently into dangle earrings. He can then add any sort of drop you would like.
Take the post off and solder the gem setting to a leverback setting, also known as a eurowire. You can also choose to have the stone taken out and reset into a leverback setting with the stone basket or pearl cup already attached to it. This will give all the simplicity of a stud earring with just a little bit of dangly movement.