I received the matching heart pendant for these earrings last year. The necklace heart was clearly a red garnet color. Yesterday I received these earrings bought to wear with the pendant, but the earrings are a definite brown - more smokey topaz than garnet. They are not heavy so would be comfortable to wear. The back is flat, but the silver filligree is there so each earring piece looks "finished"- if that was putting you off buying these, don't let that deter you. I do love how the silver-work shows through the "stone" if back-lighted. I'm disappointed about the color but have some brown outfits I can wear with them, even if I can't wear them with the "matching" necklace.