Toggle Bead Clasp Instructions

A toggle clasp is a circle with a T-bar that keeps your jewelry in place.

For avid jewelry artisans, toggle clasps are favorites because of their simplicity. One end of the clasp is a circle, while the other half is a T-shape that sides through the circle and holds the necklace or bracelet in place. Toggle clasps are easy to put on without assistance. Toggles come in many shapes, styles, colors and materials, making them favorites of artisans and jewelry aficionados. Attaching a toggle clasp to a completed jewelry project is simple and the piece can be worn in no time.

Things You'll Need

• Unfinished necklace or bracelet with built-in loops for jump rings
• 2 Pairs of flat-nose pliers
• 2 Split 3mm or 4mm jump rings
• Toggle clasp

Instructions

1. Lay out the jewelry item that you are planning to put a toggle clasp on. Locate the small loops on either end of the piece where the toggle clasps will attach.

2. Open two jump rings by holding one half with one set of flat nose pliers and twisting the other half of the jump ring with another pair of flat nose pliers. Only open them enough to slide the clasp on as opening them too far will make closing them again difficult. Hold on to one opened jump ring with the pliers and set the other one aside.

3. Slide the jump ring you are still holding through the loop on the necklace or bracelet that was built into the piece of jewelry where the clasp will go. Once done, slide the loop on the circular half of the toggle clasp onto the open jump ring.

4. Grab the jump ring, again with both pairs of pliers and gently twist the jump ring closed to that the ends of the ring meet perfectly.

5. Grab the second opened jump ring with the pliers and slide it through the pre-made loop at the opposite end of the necklace or bracelet that you are clasping. Slide the loop of the T-shaped clasp onto the open jump ring.

6. Pinch the jump ring closed carefully, using both sets of pliers, so that both ends of the opening line up for a perfect closure.

7. Put on your jewelry. The T-shaped part of the toggle clasp needs to slide through the circular part of the clasp. The T-shaped part of the clasp is wider than the circular part and that is what holds the necklace or bracelet in place.

References

• Jewelry Making: Toggle Clasp
• EE Beads: Clasps, Toggle Clasps and Jump Rings
• Sod 2 Hacks: Toggle Clasp Necklaces and Pendants