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The lobster claw: It’s on your jewelry, not the dinner menu!

Jewelry clasps come in all shapes, sizes, metals, and styles. Some clasps are purely functional, such as the spring ring clasp, which I wrote about here.

Other clasps have a very specific function, such as magnetic clasps, which make it much easier to connect the ends of jewelry chain for people who have trouble managing the tiny mechanisms of standard clasps. Still other clasps are so decorative, they become part of the design itself, and one would be hard-pressed to recognize it as a clasp at all. today, though, I’m going to describe one of the more mundane variety of clasps, another of the more functional, and among the most commonly used, types of clasps…the lobster claw.

Believe it or not, despite the funny name, the lobster claw has its namesake in an actual lobster’s claw. Unless you’ve had a lobster claw on your dinner plate, you may have never seen one, but the description is apt. A lobster’s claw is elongated, somewhat oval or teardrop shaped, and opens by way of a joint that allows for a lobster to open the end of the claw and pinch it around whatever it is the creature is trying to grasp.

A lobster claw can be similar to a spring ring in that the mechanism that opens and closes the clasp is a spring inside the tubing of the clasp that is compressed or expanded by a tiny trigger that the wearer pulls back, usually with a fingernail. Once opened, the clasp can be connected with a loop or ring at the other end of a chain, securing it closed. Lobster claw clasps are usually larger and can be heavier than a spring ring, and because of the oval or elongated shape, they work well in most jewelry designs because the clasp is more in line with the chain or bead strand. Unfortunately, lobster claws suffer from the same fatal flaw as the spring ring, though, as the spring inside the mechanism can “pop” or weaken, and the clasp can cease to function properly. Broken clasps are probably the greatest cause of jewelry loss. Once the spring inside the clasp breaks, the clasp can get stuck open, and the chain can slip off unnoticed.

another similarity to the spring ring type of clasp is that lobster claw clasps are inexpensive, and they are found in an abundant array of sizes and metal colors. Lobster claw clasps are commonplace, easily understood, and used throughout the jewelry industry, both in fashion as well as fine jewelry. No doubt you have at least one in your own jewelry collection. If you are visually impaired and can magnify the photos below, compare the spring ring clasp with the lobster claw depicted below it.

Photo of a goldtone spring ring clasp, not connected to a chain

Photo of silvertone lobster claw clasp, right, not connected to chain, left.

Lobster claws…they’re not just for dinner anymore. *Groan*

Sparkle on!

Laura