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pattye
Guest
That is charming! The shells and pearls compliment each other nicely! Do you like the magnetic clasps? They are certainly easier to work.
Thanks for sharing.
Pattye
Thanks for sharing.
Pattye
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boo
Guest
Thanks, Pattye! The bracelet is a gift for an older individual, and I am hoping that the magnetic clasp will make it easier for her to wear.
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perlas
Guest
Hi Boo,
I like the attention you gave to detail! How the flatter side of the pearls are against the shells! There's not much beaders who pay attention to details!
I like the attention you gave to detail! How the flatter side of the pearls are against the shells! There's not much beaders who pay attention to details!
jewelrybabie
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2006
- Messages
- 6
I like your bracelet very much...makes me want to start a new hobby. But I wouldn't know where or how to begin. I would love to make some of my own jewelry. Maybe someday (my husband probably wishes I would make my own too and save him a pile of money 
). I had a bracelet once with a magnetic clasp and it was very easy to put on. I hadn't had the bracelet for very long and one day it fell off and I never found it. So I am a little bit leery of having them on bracelets now.
). I had a bracelet once with a magnetic clasp and it was very easy to put on. I hadn't had the bracelet for very long and one day it fell off and I never found it. So I am a little bit leery of having them on bracelets now.lillianlovely
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2006
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- 1
So nice and pretty, I like it.
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boo
Guest
Perlas, Slraep - thanks so much for noticing the care I put into this!
Jewelrybabie - thanks for the warning. When I first started beading, I purchased some inexpensive base metal magnetic clasps, and had a similar experience to yours. I threw out the ones I had left and swore off magnetic clasps. However, Caitlin has posted a few times about liking them, so I looked into them again and found some gold-filled clasps that actually require the use of secure clamshells and split rings (as opposed to normal hook-over clamshells and jump rings). The magnetic force on the clasp I used is sufficient that it doesn't give until I pry a fingernail between the two halves and force them apart. I feel fairly confident that they will remain secure. ( I actually think the silk will give before the clasp does.)
Jewelrybabie - thanks for the warning. When I first started beading, I purchased some inexpensive base metal magnetic clasps, and had a similar experience to yours. I threw out the ones I had left and swore off magnetic clasps. However, Caitlin has posted a few times about liking them, so I looked into them again and found some gold-filled clasps that actually require the use of secure clamshells and split rings (as opposed to normal hook-over clamshells and jump rings). The magnetic force on the clasp I used is sufficient that it doesn't give until I pry a fingernail between the two halves and force them apart. I feel fairly confident that they will remain secure. ( I actually think the silk will give before the clasp does.)
jewelrybabie
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2006
- Messages
- 6
Hi Boo
I am unfamilar with the secure clamshells and split rings you spoke about (I know very little about jewelry findings). But since I lost my bracelet I have seen some magnetic clasps with an extra piece on them that looks like they would have prevented the bracelet from comming off. I would like to find some good magnetic clasps to put on a few pieces of jewelry that I have but wouldn't know where to purchase them. I noticed that some of the web sites that someone recomended only sell wholesale.
TaTa for now
I am unfamilar with the secure clamshells and split rings you spoke about (I know very little about jewelry findings). But since I lost my bracelet I have seen some magnetic clasps with an extra piece on them that looks like they would have prevented the bracelet from comming off. I would like to find some good magnetic clasps to put on a few pieces of jewelry that I have but wouldn't know where to purchase them. I noticed that some of the web sites that someone recomended only sell wholesale.
TaTa for now
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Valeria101
Guest
OMG! Your are kiddin' me, right? Run a search for the tiny shells and discovered... their occasional price tag. Probably a fluke of commerce, like the thousand-dollar baskets on Nantucket Island, but nonetheless; take a look. Never mind the sales by the lbs on FleaBay. Who needs pearls if the shells sell that way...
All other concerns and the initial shock & awe aside, the clasps look great and it took half an hour to make one for a coral branch rope that had been waiting in dispersed state for ages. Now all it needs is summer time.
Probably a fluke of commerce, like the thousand-dollar baskets on Nantucket Island, but nonetheless; take a look. Never mind the sales by the lbs on FleaBay. Who needs pearls if the shells sell that way...All other concerns and the initial shock & awe aside, the clasps look great and it took half an hour to make one for a coral branch rope that had been waiting in dispersed state for ages. Now all it needs is summer time.
Caitlin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2004
- Messages
- 8,502
Hi
Here are a couple retail websites:
http://www.firemountaingems.com/default.asp
http://www.artbeads.com/index.html
Both have lots of magnet clasps, both the pull apart and the interlocking shell style, though artbeads' are smaller and less expensive. Also artbeads does USPS for free no matter how tiny your order.
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boo
Guest
Jewelybabie - the link for the clasps that I used is here, although I have also used the vendors Caitlin listed:
https://www.rings-things.com
Go to "our products" in the menu on the bar on the left hand side of the page, then choose "finishing findings", then "clasps" and then "magnetic". The ones I used are on the last page. That vendor is also where I got the clamshells and split rings. They call themselves wholesalers, but they sell to folks (like me) who don't have tax IDs. I think they have a $25 minimum order, though.
Ana - yes, the prices seem outrageous at first. Ni`ihau shell lei, like the ones you linked to, are insurable fine jewelry. The cost is a reflection of the rather arduous collection/cleaning/stringing process. I collected the shells for this bracelet on 3 different trips to Hawai`i. In that time, I collected about half of a baby-food jar's worth of shells.
Sand gets wedged into the opening of the shells by the surf, and must be pried out by hand using a pin or awl. I would hold the shell between my thumb and finger on my left hand, and try to pry out the sand grains with a pin in my right hand. The sand doesn't dislodge easily, and I ended up sticking myself in the fingertips frequently. It takes a lot of force to dislodge the sand grains, so when the pin "jumps" it jabs pretty deeply - I lost a fair amount of blood from my fingertips!
I would clean out as many as I could stand and then let my fingers recuperate for a few days before cleaning out another batch. Many of the shells I just gave up on - they remain sitting on my shelf, mocking me, with their sand grains firmly entrenched in their mouths. However, I did manage to clean out the openings of several hundred of them.
Next, an awl is inserted into the opening of the shell and used to punch a hole in the back of the shell for stringing. Many shells shatter during this process. Of the ones that remain, they are sorted by color and size (I did the best I could with my limited stash - the shell lei artisans have a much larger stock of shells and can do a nicer job of matching). Finally I was able to string together the bracelet (after reaming out the pearls to accommodate the 4 strands of silk).
The bracelet is truly a labor of love, and helped me to understand why the Ni`ihau lei cost so much. My shells came from a beach on Moloka`i which has special significance for the intended recipient. The actual Ni`ihau shell lei use the same type of shells, but collected from Ni`ihau island (and to a lesser extent, Kaua`i). They are supposed to have a much nicer luster than those collected on other islands.
https://www.rings-things.com
Go to "our products" in the menu on the bar on the left hand side of the page, then choose "finishing findings", then "clasps" and then "magnetic". The ones I used are on the last page. That vendor is also where I got the clamshells and split rings. They call themselves wholesalers, but they sell to folks (like me) who don't have tax IDs. I think they have a $25 minimum order, though.
Ana - yes, the prices seem outrageous at first. Ni`ihau shell lei, like the ones you linked to, are insurable fine jewelry. The cost is a reflection of the rather arduous collection/cleaning/stringing process. I collected the shells for this bracelet on 3 different trips to Hawai`i. In that time, I collected about half of a baby-food jar's worth of shells.
Sand gets wedged into the opening of the shells by the surf, and must be pried out by hand using a pin or awl. I would hold the shell between my thumb and finger on my left hand, and try to pry out the sand grains with a pin in my right hand. The sand doesn't dislodge easily, and I ended up sticking myself in the fingertips frequently. It takes a lot of force to dislodge the sand grains, so when the pin "jumps" it jabs pretty deeply - I lost a fair amount of blood from my fingertips!
I would clean out as many as I could stand and then let my fingers recuperate for a few days before cleaning out another batch. Many of the shells I just gave up on - they remain sitting on my shelf, mocking me, with their sand grains firmly entrenched in their mouths. However, I did manage to clean out the openings of several hundred of them.
Next, an awl is inserted into the opening of the shell and used to punch a hole in the back of the shell for stringing. Many shells shatter during this process. Of the ones that remain, they are sorted by color and size (I did the best I could with my limited stash - the shell lei artisans have a much larger stock of shells and can do a nicer job of matching). Finally I was able to string together the bracelet (after reaming out the pearls to accommodate the 4 strands of silk).
The bracelet is truly a labor of love, and helped me to understand why the Ni`ihau lei cost so much. My shells came from a beach on Moloka`i which has special significance for the intended recipient. The actual Ni`ihau shell lei use the same type of shells, but collected from Ni`ihau island (and to a lesser extent, Kaua`i). They are supposed to have a much nicer luster than those collected on other islands.
jewelrybabie
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2006
- Messages
- 6
Hello Boo & Caitlin,
Thanks for the links. I checked out all 3...just the kind of sites I enjoy. They seem to have a good variety too. I found the magnetic clasps. I also have some ear wires I would like to replace and found some very nice ones there. Sure makes me want to start that new hobby. I think it would be a lot of fun and very satisfying to make some of my own jewelry. Thanks again.
TaTa
Thanks for the links. I checked out all 3...just the kind of sites I enjoy. They seem to have a good variety too. I found the magnetic clasps. I also have some ear wires I would like to replace and found some very nice ones there. Sure makes me want to start that new hobby. I think it would be a lot of fun and very satisfying to make some of my own jewelry. Thanks again.
TaTa
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Valeria101
Guest
boo said:
It sure looks that way... and it feels right that some example of the oldest type of jewelry should have endured on the upper shelf, be it only in the exceptional setting Ni'ihau's economy is.
Your story of piercing 3mm seashells doesn't leave room to take these little guys for granted
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boo
Guest
Oops - sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean to skip your question. I have been working with pearls since the beginning of October. However, I think I might have been spending less money back when I was buying my pearls in finished form! The Lowly Beaders Forum really inspired and encouraged me to try my hand at stringing up my own creations. I wish I were more creative - a lot of what I do is simple repetitive patterns - but hopefully my friends will enjoy their Christmas presents.
