Finding Closure In Jewelry Design

 

Before reading on... for those of you who think this blog is about relationships, I must clarify it is not. This is for those who are interested in creating their own closures when making jewelry. At Sheffield we teach students how to make their own clasps and ear wires, otherwise referred to in jewelry design as findings. Findings are the parts used to join jewelry components together to form a completed piece.

  

Clasps above both found on Something Sublime blog.

Clasp by Image Bead Jewelry on Etsy.

Embellishing clasps and ear wires with stones and coiling gives your work that unique handcrafted look. When you create your own clasps you can incorporate stones into the claps so there is a blending, a consistent feel with the work, instead of finishing your piece with a purchased clasp that may not be cohesive.

 

Hoops by Fail Jewelry.

 

Earrings by Fail Jewelry.

 

Learning to create your own ear wires is one of the most liberating moments in jewelry making. It opens the door to a whole new world of where you can take your designs. Rather than always having to attach an ear wire to a drop stone, or chain, you have the option to shape your earrings into one continuous piece. The hoop and inverted V earrings by Fail Jewelry are great examples of this. Learning how to make inverted V earrings, and hoops, are taught in unit four of the Sheffield Jewelry Design Course.  

Bracelet by Silver Bench Jewelry.

Once you know how to make your own findings, you may choose to blend your clasp right into the design of your piece, like the bracelet above by Silver Bench Jewelry.

If you're interested in learning more about jewelry design, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.