Your own guide to jewelry findings and jewelry making supplies

Posted by Naomi Daniels on March 18th, 2019

If you've just started with jewelry making, educating yourself about the jewelry making supplies and findings is a must. In the following guide, we'll talk about different types of jewelry making supplies and how you can put them to use.

Jewelry Findings are jewelry making supplies or components apart from beads, gemstones or stringing materials. Some examples of findings are bails, clasps, earring hooks, jump rings, connectors etc.
They are usually available in different metal finishes, plating including gold tone, silver tone, antique silver, antique brass, copper etc.

Read on to know more about these jewelry making supplies, also called jewelry findings.

1. Connectors and links

Connectors and links are available in a variety of different styles, colors, and shapes! You'll always find some of those in just the right finish for whatever you’re making. Just like the name suggests, they are used for connecting different jewelry components together through their bails. These connectors and links can be used to make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, anklets etc.

2. Jump rings

There are two types of jump rings: open or closed jump rings. They are used as connectors in jewelry making, to link different components. The most commonly found shape of a jump ring is round, but you can also find oval jump rings.

Open jump rings have a split in them so that they can be opened with jewelry pliers for connecting purposes. Closed jump rings are shut all the way around through soldering, so they cannot be opened. Closed jump rings are useful when you need a strong and sturdy connector for a precious piece of jewelry that is heavy.

3. Earwires or earring hooks

Earwires or earring hooks are used for making earrings, as the name suggests. The ear wire itself goes through pierced ears. You can attach beads, beadwork, connectors, jump rings, metal components, and even buttons to the connecting hole to make a variety of different earring styles!

4. Clasps

Clasps are used when making necklaces or bracelets. A clasp is a component that allows the two ends to close together. Clasps are really functional and because they are available in many different shapes and styles, they can also add the perfect finishing touch to your project.

5. Eye Pins and Head Pins

Head and eye pins are used with beads to make components for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants etc. All you have to do is simply slide a few beads onto a headpin and then use jewelry pliers and cutters to make a loop that will enable you to connect it to another component e.g. an ear wire.

Headpins come in two variants - either a flat or a round end that acts as a stopper so that your beads won’t slip through. Eye pins, though, have a connecting link, which means that you can connect other head or eye pins to them to make longer pieces of jewelry.

If you're a beginner in jewelry making, these terms will be really helpful and you'll be able to tell better what supplies your project needs.