Magnetic Jewelry Clasp

Well, to get us started off here, a brief overview of findings in general seems to be in order. Findings are any metal pieces that you use to create jewelry. Clasps, earwires, eye pins, etc. are all findings. Pieces of metal that are combined with wire, chain, and beads to create wonderful and creative pieces. So without further ado, here is a list of findings with a short description of each:

1. Clasps. Clasps are probably the most basic and necessary of all the findings. Every quality piece of jewelry that you assemble simply must have a clasp attached. This is the piece that allows you to put a piece of jewelry on and take it off. There are many different kinds; barrel clasps screw out, clamshell clasps are your average kind, magnetic clasps are also available; they are quite easy to use, because the two separate pieces of the clasp stick together. Many other kinds are on the market including, but not limited to, hook and eye clasps and toggle clasps.

2. Jump Rings. Jump rings are often used to attach other findings to the piece of jewelry - a lot of times a clasp is attached with a jump ring and sometimes charms are as well. A jump ring is basically just a piece of thin wire bent into a ring. One tip I do have though, for jump rings, is that when you open one, don't pull it straight open - grab each end of the jump ring with a separate pair of pliers and pull open at an angle.

3. Split Rings. If you have ever used a key chain before, you've used a split ring. Split rings are used when a stronger version of a jump ring is required. Not much is required of this explanation except that the most common place to use a split ring is when attaching a charm to a piece of chain. Also that they are much smaller than keychain rings, yet they look just like them.

4. Charms. These little pieces of metal are possibly the most fun of all the supplies in jewelry making. They are often very detailed and carved silver pieces and come in endless possibilities. I've seen frogs, butterflies, bees, cameos, and many other shapes and even kinds of metal.

5. Eye Pins. To put it simply, eye pins are a piece of metal with a loop at the top. They also come in wrapped loops, which are also very fun to work with, and both of these varieties of eye pins are very simple to make from home. I will write a separate article sometime in the very near future about making your own findings, since a lot of the findings used in jewelry making are very, very simple to make by yourself.

6. Head Pins. Now we come to head pins - these are very similar to eye pins, but, instead of a loop at the end, there is a flat head, very similar in looks to a nail head. The most common use for head pins is to attach a pendant bead to a piece of chain; we will explore this, and other techniques, in a later article.

7. Earwires. The last finding that I'd like to share with you today are earwires. Earwires are the pieces that you use to make your own earrings. They sell three different varieties of earwires; a stud earring, a hook earring, and a hoop earring.