How to Make a Necklace Magnetic Clasp

If you have trouble hooking your necklaces behind your neck, then a magnetic clasp may be the ideal solution. You can make any necklace clasp a magnetic clasp with just a few minutes worth of work. All you need are some small craft magnets and the item of jewelry to be altered. This strategy can be used as a temporary fix so that you do not actually permanently alter the item of jewelry.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Silly putty
• 2 round magnets, 1/4 inch in diameter
• Necklace
• Paint pen

1. Place the magnets together. This will help you determine which face of each magnet matches up with the other. You need a north pole and a south pole together on each magnet so that the new clasp will stick rather than repel the ends of the necklace. Use the paintpen to make a small dot on the faces so that you know which two go together.

2. Pull off two small lumps of silly putty. These lumps should be balls about 3/4 of an inch in diameter at most.

3. Embed the magnets in the silly putty. Once magnet should go in each lump. The face with the paintpen mark on it should still be visible. Press the silly putty around the lump so that it is firmly held in place. It is okay for the putty to overlap the edges very slightly as long as the face of the magnet is not obscured.

4. Press the silly putty around the ends of the natural necklace clasps. The silly putty should completely envelop the clasp ends. Each side should have a piece of silly putty with a magnet in it. The magnets should be facing outward, away from the clasps' ends. Once you have embedded the clasps in the silly putty, you will be able to bring the magnets together and they will hold the necklace closed. The silly putty will not pull your hair or stain your clothes. If you want to fasten the necklace normally or even sell it or give it away, the silly putty and magnets can be removed without leaving any stains or wear on the necklace.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to make this permanent, simply glue the magnets into place using a few drops of glue from a hot glue gun. This can also usually be peeled off with some effort if you want to remove the magnets later, but it is not as foolproof when it comes to removal.

References

• How magnetic necklace clasps work.