There are lots of ways to attach jewelry parts and pieces to a chain, a bead strand, or to connect one part to another. Depending upon the desired effect, a connection can provide flexibility and movement, keep a focal point facing in one particular direction, can provide strength, or can enable a visually seamless and attractive transition between design elements. Most of the time, the way one jewelry component is attached to another is by way of a jump ring.
A jump ring is a tiny ring, almost always made of metal. When I say tiny, I mean a jump ring can be as small as just 2mm, 4mm, or 8mm. These minuscule rings can be purchased from a jewelry supplier, or they can be handcrafted. Jump rings can also be open, meaning they are literally an open ring that requires closing after it is used to attach a part, or it can be closed, which means the ring is soldered closed, and the part to which it is being attached has an opening through which to thread the jump ring. Jump rings can begin their life as open, and with the skills of a practiced hand, can be closed by working the ends of the ring so that it forms a closed circle, or it can be touched with a tiny bit of metal solder to close the ends. Creating a seamless, tightly closed jump ring ensures that whatever bead, clasp, or embellishment is being attached will remain securely fixed to the chain, or to whatever it is being connected.
Jump rings are usually made of plain wire, but they can also be decorative. I’ve used diamond-cut jump rings in designs for Elegant Insights, just to add a tiny bit of sparkle that catches the light in a really subtle way, and I’ve also used jump rings that look like flowers, snowflakes, and rope designs to enhance a theme or motif. Jump rings can be tricky, though. Because they are such a tiny jewelry component, they are not usually very strong, and they are used for a big job – that of keeping the piece of jewelry securely closed, or to keep a pendant or pearl bead safely connected. That’s asking an awful lot out of a little wire ring smaller than a quarter of an inch! That’s why the best way to use a jump ring is to solder it closed once the two jewelry parts are connected. There are also what are called “locking” jump rings, and these have a tiny tab at one end of the ring, and a notch at the other, which enables the two ends to snap together and stay locked closed. The more elaborate the jump rings used to craft a piece of jewelry, however, the more expensive the end result, as most jewelry designs require many jump rings. Jump rings are a very tiny component that can make a big difference in the overall success of a design, including whether or not the piece stays together. Jump rings are usually the weak link in a piece of jewelry, and in some cases, it’s meant to be. Think of a breakaway dog collar, and how it’s meant to come apart if subjected to stress, so as to guard against a choking or constraint hazard, should the dog become ensnared by the collar. The same is true when wearing a bracelet, when, for example, the jewelry gets caught, and instead of the entire bead strand or chain breaking apart, the jump ring that attaches the clasp to the chain gives way, preserving the overall integrity of the expensive aspect of the jewelry, thus only requiring the connecting jump ring to be replaced. That’s an easy and inexpensive repair.
Now that you have a strong attachment to jump rings, sparkle on!
Laura