Fillmore Piercing Studio With $25 Holes, Walk-Ins: Catbird

Catbird charges $25 per piercing at its San Francisco shop, 2124 Fillmore Street, and the stud you choose is billed on top. The Brooklyn jeweler pierces seven days a week and takes walk-ins as well as bookings, so this piercing studio inside a jewelry store suits a Saturday errand on Upper Fillmore. One limit shapes everything: the team works only on the earlobe and outer cartilage, with a hand-pressured sterile device rather than a needle.

Catbird began in 2004, when founder Rony Vardi opened a 225-square-foot shop in Williamsburg selling art supplies, jeans, candles and jewelry. Jewelry soon took over, and two years later she moved to Bedford Avenue and started the house line with a sales associate making pieces in her kitchen. The company now makes its rings and studs at a studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with more than 40 jewelers on staff. The San Francisco shop is one of its newer outposts, celebrated with an opening party in September 2024.

The shop describes itself as a jewel box, and the layout bears that out: counters of thin 14k gold rings, diamond studs and pieces from other designers the buyers like, plus a few home goods. Piercing is one of four services listed on the store page, alongside permanent jewelry (Catbird calls it getting zapped), custom charm necklaces and ring appointments. The mix means the room holds a lot of browsers, and a piercing customer often waits a few minutes for a free piercer. The permanent bracelets are the shop's other big draw. Catbird says it has fitted more than 150,000 wrists with its recycled 14k gold Forever Bracelet, and permanent jewelry takes walk-ins just as piercing does.

The fee is per hole, not per visit, so two lobes cost $50 before jewelry and four piercings cost $100. Every piercing earring is solid 14k gold with a 24k-plated surgical steel back, and you choose it from a tray of small shapes such as stars, snakes, dots and tiny diamonds. Catbird's site lists the studs it suggests swapping in after healing. The Tiniest Dancer Stud in a star shape is from $68 for a single, the Tiniest Sylvie Snake Stud is from $98, and the Diamond Snippet Open Huggie Hoop starts at $108.

Allow 30 minutes. That covers picking the earring, marking the placement, the piercing itself and a short aftercare talk. Catbird recommends no more than four piercings in one sitting, and its booking system treats each appointment slot as two piercings. If you want three or four, book two slots back to back. Walk-ins do not have to follow that rule, which is one reason people simply turn up.

Catbird is precise about its method. The piercer uses a sterile, single-cartridge, FDA-registered device and pushes the stud through by hand. The shop stresses that this is not a spring-loaded piercing gun, and says the hand pressure gives better precision and comfort. It is still not a hollow needle, which is what most dedicated body-piercing studios in the city use, and that difference limits where the shop can pierce.

Catbird offers piercings anywhere along the lobe and the outer rim of the ear. It says plainly that it cannot do inner-ear placements, naming the tragus, rook and conch. If your plan includes any of those, or a daith, skip Catbird for that visit and book a needle studio. Cold Steel America on Haight Street and Body Manipulations in Dogpatch both pierce inner cartilage with needles. Catbird is the easier choice for a first lobe or a second hole.

The minimum age at Catbird is eight, so the shop sees parents bringing a child for a first pair of lobes, and the 30-minute slot and gold studs make that a calm outing. Catbird's piercing page gives the age floor but no separate ID checklist. Adults tend to come in to add a third or fourth lobe hole, or a small helix stud, to an ear they are already building with Catbird pieces.

Fillmore is busiest on weekend afternoons, when people move between the cafes and boutiques. Catbird warns that walk-ins may face a short wait. If you want a set time, booking is the surer route, and a weekday visit soon after the 11 am opening avoids the weekend browsing crowd. If the queue looks long and you only need lobes, use the wait to try on the stud you want to swap in later.

The piercer sends you home with Catbird's aftercare solution and instructions to use it twice a day for four weeks. The site does not publish a downsizing service or a set follow-up fee, so plan to buy a shorter post or switch to a new stud once the piercing settles. Lobes heal faster than cartilage, and a helix placed with a device still needs months of careful sleeping and no fiddling. Keep the original stud in until it is fully healed.

The shop sits on the stretch of Fillmore Street between Pacific Heights and Japantown, so a piercing fits easily into a longer walk. Head uphill a few blocks to Alta Plaza Park, where terraced lawns climb toward city and bay views. Lafayette Park, a short walk east, has tennis courts and a quiet hilltop. Walk south down Fillmore instead and the hill eases toward Japantown, where the Japan Center malls keep shops and noodle counters open into the evening.

Catbird San Francisco is at 2124 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, on Upper Fillmore. Store hours are Monday to Saturday 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Piercing costs $25 per hole plus the 14k gold stud. The minimum age is eight. Muni's 22 Fillmore bus runs along the street, and the 1 California stops a short walk north. Street parking on Fillmore is metered and tight on weekends, so transit is easier.