Ombre Wirework Necklace And Earrings

This Ombre Wirework Necklace and the earrings get their gorgeous look from the beads. These faceted top-drilled beads are made from Hessonite, a kind of cinnamon colored garnet.

You can find them by the strand already arranged in a color merge from lightest to darkest. We found ours at a local bead show, but you can also buy them online. The beads are so pretty they do all the work. All you have to do is a little wirework to put the necklace and earrings all together. And we’ll show you how!

How To Make An Ombre Wirework Necklace And Earrings

Materials

20 5mm Faceted briolettes
2 Crystal bicones
2 Gold* earring wires
18″ Gold chain
26-gauge Gold wire
Gold two-part clasp
*Gold or gold-plate, or any metal you like!

Tools

Round-nose pliers
Chain-nose pliers
Wire cutters

Steps

1. Cut the chain into two 8″ pieces and two 1″ pieces.

2. Cut a 5″ piece of wire. Make a wrapped loop in one end connecting to the last link in one of the 8″ pieces of wire.

To follow along while we make a wrapped loop, watch the video, then follow the steps below.

To make a wrapped loop, grasp the end of the wire about one inch from the end with the round-nose pliers. Grasp the short end of the wire and bend it over the pliers 90 degrees. Grasp the wire above the bend with the round-nose pliers and bend the end over the pliers to create a half loop. Slide onto the end of the chain. Reposition the pliers, placing the bottom jaws of the pliers in the partial loop and complete the loop. Grasp the loop flat with the pliers and use your fingers to wrap the end of the wire around twice. Trim the end.

3. Slide 18 briolettes onto the wire arranging the beads from lightest to darkest to lightest. Finish the end with another wrapped loop through the other piece of chain.

4. Cut a 2″ piece of wire and make a wrapped loop through the other end of the chain. Slide a crystal bicone onto the wire. Finish the end with a wrapped loop through one piece of the clasp. Repeat on the other end of the necklace to attach the other half of the clasp to the chain.

5. To make the briolette earrings, you can follow along with this video we made, then follow the steps below to make your own.

Cut a 2″ piece of wire and slide it through one of the remaining briolettes, centering the bead on the wire. Bend the wire ends up over the top of the briolette so they crisscross. Bend one wire straight up. Then wrap the other wire around the first two times. Trim the end of that wire with the wire cutters. Finish the remaining wire with a wrapped loop through the last link of a 1″ piece of chain. Open the earring wire and slide on the other end of the 1″ piece of chain. Repeat to make a second earring.

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