Explaining Jewelry Findings

If you are new to making your own jewelry, you may not know exactly what everything is.  I wanted to take some time to share (to the best of my knowledge) what some of the more common findings are. Findings are the pieces used to make a piece of jewelry.   Here are some of the common ones explained.  

Pendant Bail

Pendant Bail- Bails are used to connect the jewelry piece to the cord or necklace in order for you to be able to wear it.You glue it onto the backside of your pendant. It  has a flat pad that you put glue on and then the loop is fixed in place so you can put your cord or chain through it.  They come in colors such as silver plated, gold plated, 925 sterling silver, copper and gunmetal.   There are also different types of bails but this is one of the most common types used.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Bezel Cup/Pendant Tray
 

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Pendant Tray or Bezel Cup- This is a metal piece that already has a bail attached. You can put resin in it, gems, a stone, clay or whatever you want to fill it with.  They come in different shapes like square, round, rectangle and heart shape as well as different metal-type colors. These are nice but generally a bit more expensive than just purchasing bails alone. 

Ring Blanks or Ring Bases

A ring blank is a ring, usually adjustable, with a flat circular pad on the top where you glue your embellishment on.  You can buy cabachons to glue on the ring blank, you can glue a polymer clay piece on the blank or really whatever want. Ring blanks come in all different colors and the blank pad on top can be different shapes as well. They also have ring blanks that have empty trays on the top.. like the bezel pendant trays above, you can put whatever you want inside like resin, clay, gems or whatever you want to embellish your ring with. These type ring blanks with the trays look a little more professional but do cost more as well.

Bracelet Blanks

They also have bracelet blanks where you can glue embellishments on to make bracelets, too. 

Blank Earring Posts and hooks

You can purchase small blanks for a set of earrings or you can get just the hook part to make dangling earings. These are very inexpensive. These come in different colors and sizes.

Jumprings

These are small rings that connect your jewelry pieces together. You would need jump rings to attach pieces to the hooks for the dangling earrings or if you are beading a necklace and need to attach the ends to the clasps.  They come in different colors and sizes.

Clasps

Clasps are the parts on a necklace which connect each side of the necklace together around your neck. There are different kids like lobster clasps and round spring clasps. They come in different sizes and colors as well according to the size of the piece of jewelry you are working with.

I think that about covers the most common jewelry findings.  For even more information with photos and other information about different parts of jewelry go to this link here. There is lots of information there!

Happy Jewelry Making!!!!!