![]() Sorry, studio support is not available by phone. Got questions? Email our studio coordinator Erica Stice at We’d love to hear from you. Halstead specializes in wholesale findings, chain, and metals for jewelry artists. The firm is celebrating its 46th anniversary this year. Halstead is one of North America's leading distributors of quality jewelry supplies. Tip: Plan ahead! I used hard, medium, soft and extra easy while soldering this ring together. I also dropped the ring into a tumbler with steel shot in it for 30 minutes before setting the crystal. 3M radial bristle disks fit perfectly inside most finger ring bands, to quickly clean the center and also around any tight spaces. Finishing these sterling silver findings is simple. It's critical nothing moves while soldering the ring band. Use a third hand to hold onto the ring band during the soldering process. I didn't need to use glue on this piece because the bezel wire is so tight the crystal will never drop out. Next, I checked to make sure that the bezel wire still fit over the crystal point. The adjacent jaws hold it perfectly in place while you're creating the circle. Tip: A great way to create a tight loop in a thick pattern wire is to shape it with a Wubbers bail making plier. I soldered it together and then chose which finger ring band it worked well with. I built the center band out of flat strip and pattern wire first. Use this technique to create a trendy silver ring like this one or get creative with other center mount design ideas. Center Banding Crystal Drop Sterling Silver Finger Ring Tip: Be sure the head of the headpin is larger than the small hole ID on the bead cone. ![]() Thread the headpin up through the bead cone to create a loop, then add a stream of Starbond around the tip of the crystal where it touches the bead cone. With a minimum of materials needed, you can quickly create stunning earrings. Bead Cones, Headpins & Earwiresīead cones make beautiful caps for crystal shards. Tip: The tapered interior in cones is more forgiving than end caps so you can fit a wider range of crystal point widths. Re-purpose bead cones to create beautiful caps! Cones are tapered so they will fit a wider range of crystal diameters. If some spills out on the crystal remove it immediately. Tip: Be sure to use a minimum amount of glue. Run hoops, earwires, or similar earring findings through the loops on the end caps. Tighten the caps as needed around the crystals. Run a thin stream of Starbond glue around the crystal tip and slide that into the gallery end cap, then wait a couple of minutes for the glue to dry. With just a few sterling silver findings you can replicate these nice drops! The raw crystal ring was a bit trickier since it involves multi-layered soldering and bezel setting skills. I found it quick and easy to complete a pair within 10 minutes including a few minutes of waiting for the adhesive to set. ![]() ![]() I had so much fun with the first pair of earrings, I ended up making a total of 3 pairs that day using a variety of sterling silver findings. The earrings were fairly simple, but you do need to know basic wire wrapping skills for one of them. After sorting through it for matching pairs, I decided on creating earrings and a ring out of my favorite pieces. I recently received a bag full of crystal points. You may think setting raw crystals might be tricky but it isn't. ![]() Set raw crystal drops and points into beautiful sterling silver jewelry. The star of each piece is the raw crystal adorning each one. Use gallery end caps and bead cones to create simple, striking drop earrings or challenge yourself with a center banded technique. ![]()
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