Lynne Simpson

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:

1. Buy two 5-mm sapphires.
2. Decide whether to set them in gold or silver and buy a 5-mm round Snap-Tite setting.
3. 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.
4. Put a soft cloth (you can use an old T-shirt) on a solid surface. A dining room table works well for this.
5. Place one stone face down and position the opening of the setting over the back of the stone.
6. Press gently but firmly until you hear a click.
7. 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.
8. 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.