What Are Jump Rings: A Xinar Guide

The modest jump ring is one of the handiest jewelry-making components you’ll ever come across, and it’s second to none. While jewelry wires are required, these findings answer problems such as extending the body of what you’re making and connecting minor sections to the main jewelry structure.

These findings also come in more modern designs, including gold-filled springrings that make it easier to open and close bracelets and necklaces. In addition, they are crucial for attaching vital bits and bobs to jewelry, like trigger claw clasps and lobster claw clasps. If you’re not familiar with metal jewelry findings, you can learn more about these vital components here. We also encourage beginning crafters to widen their creative horizons when thinking of new ways to design or craft jewelry.

How to Use Jump Rings?

These findings are commonly used to secure hanging necklaces and pendants and make the chain acceptable and durable for daily use.

They join two or three separate sections of a structure together at a single location. They connect the clasps and locks to the main chain.

They’re altering a necklace or pendant’s length. If the chain is too short and the wearer is uncomfortable, you can add more to make it the right length.

As someone who may dabble in DIY jewelry manufacturing or repair, you should be completely aware of choosing the suitable jump ring and the proper ways to apply it to various designs and structures.

Using the incorrect size or type of jump ring might lead to a poor structure or design quickly falling apart once worn. Despite their small size, they hold the vital pieces of bracelets and pendants together, and they should be equally as robust as the main chain or the pendant construction itself.

Sizes and Gauges

The sizes of these findings are selected according to a set of rules.

When it comes to choosing jump ring sizes, there are two guidelines to follow:

  • the circumference,
  • the gauge (thickness)

These indicators measure the thickness of the metal used to make the jump ring, whereas the size of the ring determines the jump ring width. Generally, the width of the jump ring should grow in proportion to its diameter. Larger ones with thin wires are a red flag that the producer used low-quality wires to make them.

What you load onto the jump ring will determine which jump ring you should use. The diameter of the jump ring can be whatever you like, but the metal gauge must be appropriate for the jump ring to function correctly.

For example, a 4mm jump ring with a wire gauge of 20 will be called a lightweight and medium-duty jump ring.

In comparison to the 20G jump ring, a jump ring with the same diameter but composed of 18G wire will have a significant strength advantage.

Most pendant and necklace constructions should use 18G, 6mm ones, whereas earrings should use a 3.5mm to 4mm jump ring with a 20G wire. The diameter and thickness of the metal should be more extensive and thicker as the project grows larger and heavier.

Some jewelry supply stores measure the internal diameter rather than the actual metal width to avoid confusion. If you’re unsure whether they measure the outer diameter (OD) or the inner diameter (ID), you should ask the seller for clarification.

Is It Better to Have an Oval or A Round Jump Ring?

These findings aren’t always precisely symmetrical. If you’re concerned that one or two links might slip through the opening in the jump ring, switch to oval ones instead. Metal ones are manufactured with a variety of precious and semiprecious metals. Xinar offers sterling silver round and oval and gold-filled ones for crafting and jewelry-making.

Because oval onescontain a hole on both sides, the links are less likely to slip through the gap because they rest on the curves of the oval jump ring when in use. As a result, the hole will be on the left or right side of the course, away from the links.

Shapes and Sizes

They come in various shapes and sizes, each with features and applications in DIY jewelry projects.

Regular

These regular ones are often found at jewelry supply and craft stores. These sawed ones allow for more rounded ends. But they make it more challenging to close the rings entirely. In addition, you can perfectly align the terms of conventional ones, so the links don’t slip off with a bit of persuading.

Chainmail

Chainmail are among the highest quality findings for jewelry making. They’re called such because they’re flawlessly shaped and made of high-quality metal, and their shapes are as consistent as they come.

In addition, chainmail’s ends are smoothed out for proper closure, unlike regular ones. As a result, these are ideal for more ambitious creations that require the highest durability, such as head jewelry.

Soldered

These are rings that were soldered before sale. These can only be stitched onto a design or piece of jewelry, and they can be more challenging to use because they can only be opened by cutting open the jump ring’s soldered point.

Snap-Closed

These are unique findings with snap points on the ends that latch on to one another and stay closed unless you apply a lot of effort to the snap points. They’re simple to use, and you can feel assured that the links won’t spring open on you. There is also no possibility of a relationship slipping out because these are gapless.

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