How to Design Your Own Gold Jewelry for Cheap

It is virtually impossible to distinguish gold-filled jewelry from solid gold jewelry.

The lustrous yellow glow of gold has made it among the most popular materials for making jewelry. While gold jewelry is available for sale at many jewelry retailers, it can me more fun, fulfilling and affordable to design your own. Gold-filled jewelry offers all visual appeal and most of the durability of solid gold jewelry at a fraction of the cost. Gold-filled jewelry is made by plating a core of base metal, such as brass, with a relatively thick layer of solid gold. You can design your own affordable gold jewelry by including gold-filled jewelry components in your designs.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper

Instructions

1. Determine what type of gold jewelry you want to design. Consider designing a necklace, bracelet, ring, pair of earrings or other type of adornment.

2. Draw your gold jewelry design using a pencil and paper as you determine its various elements. Supplement your drawing with words describing the sizes and styles of the different components of your jewelry design. Note that you will use gold-filled materials to make the gold jewelry more affordable.

3. Include gold-filled chain in your jewelry design if you want to create an inexpensive gold necklace, bracelet or anklet. Determine which style of gold-filled chain you prefer; gold-filled chain comes in a variety of styles, ranging from basic cable chain to intricately woven chain. Decide how large you want the gold-filled chain to be; its individual links may be as tiny as 1mm or as large as 10 mm.

4. Add a gold-filled clasp to your jewelry design if you want to make an inexpensive gold necklace, bracelet or anklet. The clasp will enable you to put on and take off the jewelry with ease. Decide what style of gold-filled clasp you prefer; choose from basic spring ring clasps, box clasps, magnetic clasps and S-shaped clasps, among others.

5. Incorporate gold-filled jump rings--metal rings that open and close and are used to connect different jewelry components--into your design. You may need them to join jewelry components together, such as link charms to a chain. Decide what size of gold-filled jump rings you will need; they range from 2mm in diameter to 8mm in diameter.

6. Determine how wide the band will be if you want to design an inexpensive gold ring. Decide whether the band will have a pattern. Gold-filled wire comes in a variety of thicknesses, finishes and patterns and is used to fashion gold rings, among other adornments.

7. Bring gold-filled ear wires into your design if you want to create inexpensive gold earrings. Determine what style of gold-filled ear wire you favor, such as a French-style, which resembles a fish hook, or a style that latches closed, which is more secure.

8. Add gold-filled jewelry wire or head pins to your design if you will add beads to the piece of jewelry. For example, to make gold earrings with dangling beads, you will need to slip the beads onto gold-filled wire or head pins in order to attach them to the ear wires. Decide what gauge of gold-filled wire or head pins you will require; remember, the higher the gauge, the more pliable and delicate the wire or head pins will be.

9. Include gold-filled charms in your design if your piece of jewelry incorporates charms. For example, you may suspend gold-filled charms from gold-filled chain or even a gold-filled ring band. Decide what types of gold-filled charms you like, such as stars, hearts, or initials.

10. Make sure you have included all the aspects of your gold jewelry design in your drawing.

Tips & Warnings

• Bring your gold jewelry design along with you on a visit a jewelry supply retailer or craft supply store. Use your drawing as a guideline when you buy the components you will need to make the design a reality.

• To make inexpensive gold jewelry, choose gold-filled components over gold-plated ones. The layer of solid gold plating on gold-filled jewelry is considerably thicker than that on gold plated jewelry. Consequently, gold-filled jewelry is more resistant to discoloration and fading.

References

• "Jewelry Design"; Carissa Kowalski Dougherty, 2008.
• Gilden Script: 14 KT Gold Filled vs. Gold Plated Jewelry