Where in the ear is the piercing? That makes a difference. You probably want a 16-gauge earring. I have several cartilage piercings and they are all 16g.

I prefer ones that screw on vs the push-pin style, which I don't find stay in as well. Hoops are great too depending on where it is. I have a mix of real gold and surgical steel/titanium with a gold finish and they all look the same. I leave them in all the time and haven't had any issues with the ones that aren't real gold. Mine are from a mix of Etsy and Oufer.

Get either a hoop or a threadless flat back/nap earring. With a flat back, usual the post is titanium and the front piece you can see is the gold. You just need to know what gauge of piercing and length you need. You can find them at a local piercing studio, where they will fit you, or online. There’s a range - look at bodyartforms, Madison Miru, and (for $$$$) Maria Tosh

I got my cartilage pierced about a year ago when my daughter went to Claire's and got her ears pierced. I've just been wearing the piercing gun earring (yes I know I should've gone to a professional piercer, oh well) since.

I want to get a nicer gold earring now but need someone to explain to me the different types and pros and cons.

Hoop, flat back, threaded, threadless... it's confusing!

I want to leave the same one in most of the time and don't want anything that could get snagged on anything. I wear glasses in the evening when I take my contacts out, and the earring butterfly backing I currently have in there rubs against the glasses, so if I can avoid that somehow, that would be great.