How to Make Necklaces Using Vintage Earrings & Brooches
Many vintage accessories, such as cameos or jewels, look stunning when you wear them as earrings, brooches or necklaces. Whether you have inherited a pair of vintage earrings and a brooch, or if you just want a new way to wear jewelry you have owned for decades, you can fashion these heirlooms into necklaces without damaging them or detracting from their value.
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Instructions
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Jewelry with Loops at the Back
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1
Examine the clasps at the backs of the earrings and brooch. Do not remove the backings of the pieces.
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Locate a loop of any size on the back of each piece of jewelry. Jewelry pieces often features loop clasps that allow you to convert them into necklaces.
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3
Place your necklace chain on a smooth, flat work surface. Opt for a thin chain that features a clasp and a jump ring. The jump ring is the circle that the clasp attaches to.
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4
Pry the jump ring open using the end of the needle-nose pliers. These rings feature a small gap where the circle connects that allows you to open the ring without breaking the metal.
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5
Remove the jump ring from the chain and set it aside in a safe location. Slide the chain through the loops in the backs of the vintage jewelry pieces you wish to convert to necklaces.
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6
Replace the jump ring on the last loop in the necklace chain. Use the pliers to tighten the gap in the circle so it is too small for the chain to slip through. Clasp the necklace around your neck.
Jewelry Without Loops at the Back
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7
Snip off one-half an inch of thin, pliable wire for each piece of jewelry you wish to convert. This will allow you to create loops at the backs of earrings and brooches that do not already have them so you can string the pieces on a necklace.
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Bend the short pieces of wire into loops and twist the ends together. Position one loop on the back of each piece of jewelry.
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Plug in your glue gun and wait about five minutes for it to become hot. Squeeze a small dab of glue onto the twisted ends of the wire to attach the loop to the back of the jewelry. For a more secure attachment, solder the wire to the back of the piece.
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10
Do not move or bump the piece of jewelry until the glue has hardened, which should take about 10 seconds, or until the soldering has cooled. You will attach the piece to a necklace chain using this new loop.
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11
Place your necklace chain on a smooth, flat work surface. Opt for a thin chain that features a clasp and a jump ring. The jump ring is the circle the clasp attaches to.
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12
Pry the jump ring open using the end of the needle-nose pliers. These rings feature a small gap where the circle connects that allows you to open the ring without breaking the metal.
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13
Remove the jump ring from the chain and set it aside in a safe location. Slide the chain through the loops you attached to the backs of the vintage jewelry pieces you wish to convert to necklaces.
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14
Replace the jump ring on the last loop in the necklace chain. Use the pliers to tighten the gap in the circle so it is too small for the chain to slip through. Clasp the necklace around your neck.
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Tips & Warnings
For a chunky modern necklace, string both the earrings and the brooch on the same chain and allow them to cluster together as it hangs around your neck. For a classic, traditional look, string each piece of jewelry on its own chain to wear separately.
If you wish to convert your jewelry back to earrings and brooches, simple remove the jump ring again and slip the pieces off the chain.
Resources
- “Necklaces (Twenty to Make)”; Stephanie Burnham; 2008
- Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
