PROJECT 10: CAGED PEARL EARRINGS

caged pearl earrings; cage technique; pearls; dangling earrings; earrings; accessories; accessory; diy; how to; project; chainmaille

One of my fave looks for the classic pearls is the caged bead jewelry, I feel it adds character to the elegant pearls. I usually do this with redesigned pearls whose holes have been blocked out by the previous string or whose holes are too small. But the thing with pearls is that they come in uneven sizes and forms so it’s tricky knowing which size of jump rings to use and sometimes the form of the pearls are such that they “escape the cage”. To see if the pearls fit the cage, jingle and move the finished piece around to check if the cage can hold the beads.

For this project I used 7mm for what I believe are 6mm pearls. At the end of this tutorial I will include images of the materials that I put against a measuring stick so you may gauge more or less the sizes you’ll need.

MATERIALS

6 PEARLS

2 FISHHOOK EARRINGS

2 WAVE BEAD CONNECTOR

24 7mm JUMP RINGS

2 4mm JUMP RINGS

4 3mm JUMP RINGS

2 RINGS FROM SMALL OVAL CABLE CHAIN

pearls; fishhook earrings; jump rings; jump rings; wave connector; split rings; connector

TIPS:

Open half of the jump rings before you start because you’ll need to keep the caged pearls steady when you close, this way it would be easier to just slide the open rings through and close.

STEP 1

Open one 4mm ring and connect two 7mm rings then close. Connect two more 7mm rings to the previous 7mm rings.

STEP 2

Hold the 4mm ring between your fingers and open the 7mm rings. Make sure the 4mm ring stays in the middle.

STEP 3

Nestle a pearl in the middle and fold the first two rings closest to the 4mm ring to hold the pearl.

STEP 4

Bring up the other two 7mm rings and adjust to make sure the pearl is secure.

STEP 5

Take a 3mm jump ring and fasten to the 7mm rings and insert one wave connector then close. Set aside.

STEP 6

Take a 3mm jump ring and repeat Steps 1 through 4. Continue to make another cage by connecting four more 7mm rings.

STEP 7

Open up the rings and nestle a pearl in the middle. Fold the first two rings to hold the pearl, then bring up the other two rings to create a cage and then secure with one of the chains from the small cable chain.

STEP 8

Open the 3mm ring again to connect to the wave connector. And then open the 4mm ring to connect the caged pearl to the fishhook earrings and close. Repeat steps to make a pair.

TIP: You can connect the fishhook earring on Step 1. I don’t know why I didn’t 🙊