Finishing Methods for Bead Stringing

Learn popular methods for finishing necklaces and other handmade jewelry with crimps and cord ends, jump rings, split rings, knots and jewelry clasps. This page is a brief overview with links to more information. If the instructions aren't on the category page, please click into a product's details for more information. We've been in business since 1972, and making jewelry for most of those years... but every beader and stringer develops personal favorites. For more opinions and examples, you may also want to invest in a couple stringing and beading books, or beading and stringing magazines with good tutorials. Experiment to find the methods that work best for you!

Choosing clasps is a mixture of your own personal preference, as well as your customer type, and the size and weight of your jewelry:

Customers with fading eyesight often prefer the size and ease of lobster clasps over spring rings.
Toggles and hook-&-eye sets are easy to put on and take off, and are popular for chunky bracelets and necklaces, but aren't secure for lightweight necklaces.
The security of pearl clasps and lobster clasps makes them good choices for expensive materials.
Inexpensive spring rings remain popular, due to their small size and nice price.

For free tips on choosing cord or necklace wire, see Stringing Materials & Methods.
For more free tips, see our Updated Choosing Clasps & Finishing Methods page.

See below for illustrations of tricky parts of a few of the most popular stringing & finishing methods. (Click the titles for more information.)

This page is under construction. Coming soon (ish): mobile-friendly design and new larger images.

Bullet Ends
great for finishing multiple strands

Bullion
(aka French Wire)
for protecting delicate cord
bullion/French wire

Choker Clamps
simple and clean, great for wide flat cord

Crimp Beads
(and crimp tubes)
very popular for finishing stringing cable (beading wire);
can be crimped + rounded with crimping pliers, or simply flattened with flat-nose pliers