Jump Rings and Charmed Jewelry
Another Method to Attach Charms to the Links in a Chain
Charmed jewelry is a perpetual favorite and is easy to make. This article gives complete instructions on using jump rings to attach charms to a bracelet.
This is the third in a series of articles on the subject of making charmed jewelry. Specifically a charm bracelet although the basic directions can be used to make any sort of charmed jewelry or perhaps to hang a charm from a buckle on your purse or shoes.
In review, the first article gave some basic information on charmed jewelry and the second article explained how to attach charms to a linked chain by using bails. This article gives complete instructions using an alternate method – jump rings.
Follow the easy instructions below to build your charmed jewelry from scratch using a open linked Figaro style bracelet, jump rings and your selected charms.
Required supplies for your charm bracelet:
- Open link 7.5 inch in length sterling silver bracelet. The one used in this article is a Figaro style bracelet , 3.3mm and was purchased from Fire Mountain Gems.
- Five sterling silver 7mm 18 gauge jump rings. Also can be purchased from Fire Mountain Gems.
- A pair of jump rings, pliers and a jump ring tool or two pairs of needle nose pliers. These can also be purchased at Fire Mountain Gems or any craft store.
- Your selection of charms. Five charms were used to make the surfer girl charm bracelet shown on this page. More information on exactly duplicating these charms is given via blog.
The jump rings pliers will be used in two different ways. First they will be used to close the jump ring around the charm and open link in the Figaro style chain. Then they will be used to reshape the circular shape of the jump ring into an oval.
When the jump ring is oval shaped the opening of the jump ring automatically positions itself so it is hanging at the middle, not at the top by the link of the chain or the bottom by the charm. This makes for a much more secure connection for your charms.
How to put your charm bracelet together:
- Lay the Figaro style bracelet flat on a table, making sure all the links are lying in an unkinked manner.
- Position your charms around the bracelet, spacing them evenly. Rearrange them until you are happy with their order.
- Open your five jump rings. It is recommended that you use a jump ring tool. However, you can also use two pairs of pliers. Open the jump rings by slightly twisting the jump ring (moving the open section of the jump ring side to side – one to the left and one to the right) creating a hole in which to insert both the charm and the link of the chain. In other words, you do not just pull the jump ring apart. If you do that your jump ring will not snap back together correctly. Reference Image One shown below. The jump ring is sitting in the jump ring tool after being twisted to make a hole. See how the two sides are not just pulled up and away – rather they were twisted side to side.
- Start with the center charm. Pick up the link that is exactly in the middle of the bracelet and place it on the jump ring. This is followed by placing the charm on the jump ring. Twist the jump ring closed using either your needle nosed pliers or the jump ring tool.
- Place the jump ring in the jump ring pliers with the hole of the jump ring half way between the top and bottom jaw of the jump ring pliers. See Image Two below. Squeeze the pliers, carefully closing the two sides of the jump ring tightly against each other.
- Next, position the jump ring so the joint is at the top of the jump ring pliers. See Image Three below. Carefully, squeeze the jump ring pliers to slightly reshape the jump ring into an oval shape.
- Repeat for the other four charms. Make sure that the charms are evenly spaced around the bracelet and all the charms are facing the same way.
The great thing about jump rings, even sterling silver ones, is that they are relatively inexpensive. So, if you mangle a few jump rings in the process of learning how to open and close them – no big deal. Once you become experienced in that process and reshaping the ring into an oval, you will be amazed at how quickly you can attach five charms to a bracelet.
The last article in this series will give directions to make charmed jewelry using Lock Links – just another connection method that can be used in many different jewelry applications.
