Best Jewelry Findings to Keep Stocked

Findings are where handmade pieces fail, and the failures are predictable. Clasps go first, so size them for the wearer rather than the design: a lobster claw around seven by twelve millimeters can be worked one handed, while the neater nine millimeter versions defeat most people fastening a bracelet behind their own wrist, and a magnetic converter clipped onto an existing clasp fixes that without remaking the piece. Jump rings fail second, because an open ring is only as strong as the seam you close, and gauge matters more than diameter, since thin rings in the smallest sizes ease open under the weight of a pendant. An assortment covering three to eight millimeters teaches you quickly which size disappears into a design and which one shouts. Ear wires and posts are the one place where material is not negotiable, because anything containing nickel will find the people who react to it, so stainless steel or sterling is the default and butterfly backs are the ones that stay on. Crimp tubes have to match your wire diameter rather than your bead size, and a size two tube on 0.018 inch cable is the pairing most projects want. A two to four inch extender chain on every necklace removes all the guessing about neck length.