Jump ring jewellery set
This is my version of the ‘Crystal Clear’ bracelet featured in the Feb 2007 edition of Bead and Button. The beads I have used are faceted glass and 6mm mother of pearl. I used 18 and 20 gauge silver-plated wire to make the jump rings. Once I had completed the main part of the bracelet I discovered that I did not have a suitable clasp so I created my own from wire. I wanted to take the design further to make a set and here’s what I came up with:
The centrepiece of the necklace follows the bracelet design with the beads on the uppermost edge only. It was necessary to adjust the design in this way as the original bracelet pattern was too heavy and stiff to hang nicely. To create a stable centrepiece that could be attached to the chain of the necklace I used 28 gauge wire to thread the beads finishing it off with a wrapped loop at either end. The rest of the necklace chain is based on the chainmaille design from the Bead and Button bracelet pattern. I made the triangular headpins and added small pearlised seed beads before attaching them to the centrepiece.
I wanted the earrings to reflect the same design but it was not easy to translate it to something suitable to be worn as an earring. Each element needed to be included but without making them too cumbersome. I started with the chainmaille motif of 2 large central jump rings with 2 pairs of the smaller jump rings on other side. By creating 2 eyepins I could then thread on the blue faceted glass beads on each side of the central jump rings. The eyepins were then joined at the top by a further jump ring enabling the design to be attached to the earwire. The triangular headpin dangles were joined to a chain of jump rings attached to the centre of the design and the wire loops at the base of each eyepin.
