Video:How to Fix a Broken Jewelry Clasp

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Transcript:How to Fix a Broken Jewelry Clasp

Most of the time, it's actually not the clasp that's broken, it's a jump ring that's become loose, that can actually really easily be fixed. Hi! I'm Rachel Bitan with Reservoir 4 Jewelry for About.com. Today I'm going to show you how to fix a broken jewelry clasp.

Fix a Jump Ring Clasp

A jump ring is just one of those little circles that's open on one side, and this is actually a really easy fix. So, I'm going to take my needle nose pliers - but before I start, I'm going to do something really quickly to protect my jewelry. I'm going to take a small piece of masking tape and wrap it carefully around the tip of the needle nose pliers. What this will do, is it'll protect my jewelry from getting marred by the hardened steel of these pliers. So, I'm going to take this jump ring, put it back in place with my fingers, string it through the place where it fell off. And with your pliers, carefully close that jump ring - and, there it is. It's fixed and ready to be worn.

Repair a Lobster Clasp

The next scenario I'm going to show you is, this necklace has a clasp that actually is broken. It's been bent out of shape and this is a hollow tube - it can't really be fixed. Luckily, this is a really inexpensive fix. I can go to the jewelry supply store, buy some more of these lobster clasps, and if you look closely, this also has a little jump ring that's open on one end. And, what I can do is take my pliers - the same pliers - open this up and just replace this lobster clasp with the new one. Carefully close it and that's it - it's fixed!

Fix a Tension Jewelry Clasp

So, this last clasp is actually sort of a tension clasp, and this is actually supposed to form a V-shape - this little piece of metal. But I can see it doesn't form a V-shape; half of it's actually fallen right off. So let me see if I can just replace this clasp myself. Actually, these jump rings are soldered shut - both sides are soldered shut. So I think the best thing to do in this case is to actually just take this whole necklace to a jeweler and have them replace the clasp for me.

So don't let a broken jewelry clasp stop you from wearing your favorite jewelry - it's easy to fix. Thank you for watching! For more info, visit us on the web at style.about.com.