How to Attach End Caps

Whether you're attaching end caps to leather cord or facing a jewellery mishap like the one below, knowing how to attach end caps to your jewellery will give you an additional way to assemble your jewellery components and expand your jewellery-making repertoire. Today we look at this very simple but secure method for connecting components without loops. On the morning of my daughter's recent wedding, a guest who was staying with us had a jewellery disaster - one of the end caps on her necklace disintegrated and her necklace fell apart. We were about to leave for the church so there wasn't time for a repair but after a quick hunt around the studio, I found something suitable for her to wear. Crisis averted! A couple of days after the wedding, I did a quick and secure repair on the necklace. The problem with this necklace is that some of the "metal" components are not metal at all! They appear to be plastic, painted to look like silver. If you look at the pho......

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Baroque Pearl Earring Remake

I always find doing jewellery repairs an interesting challenge - you can learn so much about jewellery construction by studying the way the piece has been put together. Many of the costume jewellery pieces I've repaired over the years are constructed using different methods to those we regularly use as jewellery makers today and I find I learn valuable techniques to add to my repertoire by studying the way a piece has been constructed. The baroque pearl earrings on my desk today are a really good example so I want to share with you the step-by-step reconstruction of them. My customer received them as a gift from her mother so they have sentimental value to her but after years of wear, the fine gauge wire that they're constructed with has become kinked, making the earrings unattractive. So a remake is in order - my brief is to try to recreate the original design if possible. The earrings have an unusual construction method: one continuous length of wire runs through the pea......

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Rosary Chain Jewellery Repair

Every girl has a special relationship with her hairdresser and I'm no exception. Mine has been doing my hair for 20+ years and in that time our relationship has become way more than that of  hairdresser/client - each salon visit is like visiting an old friend. Her work wardrobe consists of a lot of black - black shirts and blouses, black pants, black skirts, black dresses - it's mandatory workwear in the salon. But the one place she can add her own style is in her jewellery and accessories. When I visited her this week she told me she had somehow managed to get one of her newest necklaces wrapped around the handle of her shopping trolly and with one almight tug, it broke into about 20 pieces. She was devastated because it was one that many clients had commented on. I told her not to fret and that it was something I could easily fix for her. So she bundled it all into a ziplock bag and I brought it home with me. Luckily, the rosary chain loops in this piece are......

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How to Make Eye Pin Loops - the "glue" that connects your jewellery together

If you've ever had a necklace or bracelet catch on your clothes and pull a thread (or catch in your hair...OUCH!), it's probably because there is a loop that hasn't been closed properly.   But catching on your clothes and pulling your hair is not the worst of it...  Poorly closed loops eventually manage to unhook from the other components they're connected to and then your jewellery falls apart. Arrggghh! When you close your loops tightly, your jewellery looks polished and professional. And the bonus is...  It won't catch on your clothing or your hair ever again . What is a Simple Loop in Jewellery Making? Simple loops, or loops, are used to connect one element of a design to another, like a beaded link or a dangle. They can also be used in place of a jump ring in some designs.  Simple loops aren't soldered, so it's essential that they're completely closed; otherwise, components work themselves loose and unhook from each other. Poorly closed loops = brok......

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