Gemstone stud earrings in sixty seconds
Nov 13th, 2006 by Lynne
I was talking with a friend this weekend about how insanely easy it is to make gorgeous gemstone earrings in under a minute. No special tools or training are needed, and you won’t believe how easy it is. Once you see how to do this, you’ll never want to pay full retail for gemstone stud earrings again!
You can find the supplies at a number of online shops. My personal favorite is Fire Mountain Gems, because they have a very liberal return policy. If you order an item and don’t like it, you can return it, no questions asked. I bought some emeralds from FMG but wasn’t happy with the color once I got them, and I was able to get a full refund a long time later.
Let’s say you want to make some pretty 5-mm sapphire studs for your mother for Christmas. Here’s all you need to do:
- Buy two 5-mm sapphires.
- Decide whether to set them in gold or silver and buy a 5-mm round Snap-Tite setting.
- When the stones arrive, look them over carefully for any flaws. My personal preference for sapphires is a deep, vibrant blue — not so dark that they look black, and not washed-out, either.
- Put a soft cloth (you can use an old T-shirt) on a solid surface. A dining room table works well for this.
- Place one stone face down and position the opening of the setting over the back of the stone.
- Press gently but firmly until you hear a click.
- Pick up the earring by the post and look at it to make sure the stone is level in the setting. All of the ends of the prongs should be visible around the edges of the stone. If it’s not level, put the stone face down on the cloth again and try pushing gently so the setting is positioned evenly.
- Repeat steps 5 through 7 with the other stone.
I’ve made at least a dozen sets of earrings this way and never had any problems. It takes longer to order the earrings than it does to make them. When I first tried this two years ago, I couldn’t believe how easy it was!
All you need to do when ordering is make sure you get the right shape (oval, round, etc.) and size for your setting. If you buy oval stones, you need an oval setting, and the same goes for the size. Also, you probably don’t want to go for any B-grade stones. The emeralds I returned to FMG were Bs.
If you have questions, post a comment!
On edit: Below is a picture of 6X4-mm garnet studs. They cost me under $25 to make.
Wow, those look great. This I have got to try.
Alice
It’s really easy, Alice. Let me know if you have any questions!
Wow, Those are gorgeous earrings! I’m going to have to go take a look and see if I can make some for Chrismas gifts this year!
Hi, Pam! :-) Thanks for stopping by! They look even better in real life. They have this beautiful, deep rose glow that just doesn’t show up in photos.
I’ve had particularly good luck with FMG’s amethysts and garnets.
Nice! Is there a way to make dangly ones? My mom’s been looking for the “perfect” dangly amethyst earrings forever.
Hi, Cat! Hope you’re feeling better!
Where does she want the amethyst(s) to be? Is she looking for a silver (or gold) ball earring with an amethyst dangle? If you can give me a rough description, I may be able to point you in the right direction.
It took me a lot of fiddling about to get any light to come through these amethysts for a photo. They do have a deep color, and our big camera up close blocks a lot of the available illumination.
Those are garnets, John. :-)
I knew that. I just misspelled it as “amethysts.” :-)
Well, thanks, Lynne, I just spent a lot of money at Fire Mountain :). More on shipping than on the items themselves, but I expected that. My mother’s Christmas present is now organized. What a relief!
Have fun, Michelle! If you get a chance, I’d love to see any pictures you’re willing to share.
I’ll see what I can do, Lynne. They are due by FedEx international courier in 3 to 5 days :)
Yikes. I bet that cost a lot!