Learn How to Do Easy Jewelry Repairs Yourself
You’re going about your normal day when your favorite bracelet gets caught on something and snaps. You don’t know how to fix it and don’t want the hassle of finding someone who can do the jewelry repairs for you, so you reluctantly put it in the back of your drawer hoping it will magically fix itself.
But what if you could fix it yourself? Some jewelry repairs are actually easy. Here are a few basic tips for repairing your jewelry yourself (and saving your favorite bracelet from the back of that drawer!).
1. You’ll Need Some Basic Tools
There’s no way around it: You will have to invest some money to get a few basic tools. But the good news is that you don’t need a lot of money.
You’ll need a set of jewelry pliers like the ones pictured. The three pliers, from left to right, are needle nose pliers, bent nose pliers, and side cutters.
You can typically find these sold as a set for less than $10, and you can use them for any future jewelry repairs.
2. Jump Rings Are Your Friend
If a chain has snapped or a clasp has broken, it can usually be fixed with a jump ring without drastically changing the appearance of your bracelet or necklace.
Jump rings come in different sizes and are measured in millimeters. They’re also available in almost any metal type you need, whether it’s plated, sterling silver, rose gold, or gold-filled.
The one tricky part about jump rings is that they also have a gauge, which is the thickness of the ring. But, the HIGHER the number, the THINNER the gauge (for example, 20g is thicker than 24 g). And thickness is important, because you need the ring to fit through the loops on a chain or a clasp.
For a daintier chain, I typically use jump rings from 3mm to 5mm that are 22 gauge or 20 gauge.
3. How to Use Pliers and Jump Rings Together
When you order your jump rings, make sure you order ones that are already open - it means they have a cut in the ring that allows you to open it and close it with the pliers.
Use the bent nose (pictured) and needle nose pliers to open the jump ring by grasping the ring on either side of the cut.
To pull open the ring, DON’T pull it apart - it can weaken and break the ring. You want to gently twist the ring to create the opening. (If you look closely at the ring in the photo, you can see how the two ends of the ring are staggered.)
Now you can put the two ends of the broken chain or the loop of the clasp onto the ring.
Close the ring back up by twisting back together, and…
Voila!
You’ve done your own jewelry repairs!
Pop Quiz: Can you spot the 4 jump rings in this picture?
Feeling overwhelmed?
Once you get the hang of it, I promise, you’ll be able to repair all of that jewelry in the back of your drawer. But if it still sounds like too much, reach out to your favorite local jewelry shop or Etsy seller. They already have the tools needed and would happy to do the repairs at a minimal cost.
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Or if you’d rather replace that broken bracelet, check out these options:
