Crystal bead chain and Blue Chalcedony briolettes make this Breezy Briolette Necklace a stunner. We’ll share how to create wirework clusters of teardrop beads and connect them with delicate Aquamarine bead chain. We love how briolettes automagically go back and forth when pushed together!
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Materials
18 Faceted briolette beads (top drilled), Aqua Blue Chalcedony, 12mm
16″ Bead chain (also called rosary chain), Aquamarine and gold
Twist toggle clasp, gold-plate, 12mmx15mm
2 Round beads, gold-plate, 4mm
26-Gauge wire, gold-plate
Tools
Round-nose pliers
Chain-nose pliers
Wire cutters
Steps
1. To get started, cut the bead chain into five ¾” lengths and two 4½” lengths. To cut the chain, simply cut right through one of the links. Save the broken links and you can reclaim the little Aquamarines to use in another project!
2. Next, cut a 3″ length of wire. Make a wrapped loop in the end of the wire by grasping the wire with round-nose pliers 1″ from the end. Bend the tail of the wire over the pliers 90 degrees. Move the pliers to grip the wire just above the 90-degree turn. Grab the tail of the wire with your fingers and wrap it around the pliers to make a partial loop. Feed the wire and partial loop through the last link in one of the 4½” lengths of chain. Reposition the pliers in the loop and finish pulling the wire around the pliers to complete the loop. Wrap the tail around the straight wire twice. Use the wire cutters to trim the tail.
3. Slide three briolettes onto the wire. Push the briolettes together tightly so they sit on alternating sides of the wire. Grasp the wire just beyond the briolettes with the round-nose pliers and bend the tail of the wire over the pliers 90 degrees. Move the pliers to grip the wire just above the 90-degree turn. Grab the tail of the wire with your fingers and wrap it around the pliers to make a partial loop. Slide the last link of one of the ¾” lengths of chain onto the wire and into the partial loop. Reposition the pliers in the loop and finish pulling the wire around to complete the loop. Wrap the tail around the straight wire twice. Use the wire cutters to trim the tail.
4. Cut a 3″ length of wire. Make a wrapped loop through the last link of the chain added in Step 2. Slide 3 briolettes onto the wire and finish with a wrapped loop through the last link in another ¾” length of chain.
5. Continue adding briolette components and ¾” lengths of chain connected by wrapped loops until you have six briolette components connected by five ¾” lengths of chain. Before finishing the wrapped loop on the last briolette component, slide the last link of the 4½” length of chain onto the wire and finish with a wrapped loop.
6. Cut a 2½” length of wire. Make a wrapped loop through the last link of the chain in the necklace. Slide a gold bead onto the wire and finish with a wrapped loop through one piece of the toggle clasp. Repeat to attach the other side of the toggle clasp to the other end of the necklace chain.
Don’t those briolettes look lovely with the delicate bead chain? Let us know if you have any questions about this Breezy Briolette Necklace or any other jewelry project. Just leave us a comment. We love hearing from you!
Happy Crafting,
Jennifer & Kitty
If you love briolettes like we do, you might also love these projects that all feature top-drilled, teardrop beads.
Labradorite Gemstone Pendant Necklace
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