I am late to this discussion since you already decided against them, but I love the pave perlee studs. They are so much more beautiful in person than I could have imagined and the side is perfect, however I agree that they are way less iconic and 99.999999% of people would never know they are VCA.
Seeing Kimber’s photos also reminds me how much I love the onyx holiday earrings. I wish so often that I had purchased them when I had the chance! I have YG with diamond, but I love the contrast of the diamond with onyx!