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What you need:
Round red coral disc beads (10mm). You will need 10 or more beads depending on the size of your necklace. I’ve used 8 coral beads for a 14” necklace.
17 gauge wire (1.2mm) : 50” (2,7m) in length, depending on your necklace size. You will need more wire if you are making a necklace size of 19” or longer.
20 gauge wire (0.8mm): 250” (6,5m) in length. You will also need more of this wire for a
Steps for making the chain-links:
1. Cut off 2 ½ “ (6,4cm) of 17 gauge wire. Grip the end of the wire with the middle part of your round nose pliers.
2. Move your pliers away from you to form a loop.
3. Make another loop at the other end of the wire, to the opposite direction.
4. Cut off 14-15” (36-38cm) of 20 gauge wire. You are going to use this to coil between the two loops. For a detailed explanation of how to coil wire see
http://www.how-to-make-beaded-jewelry.com/wire-coils.html . When you start to coil, leave a short tail at the end for a grip to hold on to. It can be very tiring to grip the wire with your pliers while coiling, especially if you need to coil all the links as in this necklace.
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5. The easiest way to coil, is to keep the 20g wire in place with your thumb while twisting the loop part (17g wire) with your other hand.
6. When you reach the other loop, cut off the excess wire. Press the scratchy end down with your chain nose pliers.
7. Cut off the excess wire with your wire cutters. Press the scratchy end down with your chain nose pliers.
8. Your coiled link is now ready to be shaped.
9. Grip the coiled wire with the bottom of your round nose pliers next to the loop on the right (the loop must face downwards).
10. Bend the rest of the wire upwards around the upper prong of the pliers.
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11. Grip the wire as shown in the photo below (left), and start bending the left part of the wire upwards.
12. Move your pliers little by little to form the wire into an S-shape.
13. Be gentle when gripping the wire and moving your pliers. If you press too hard you might distort the coiled wire.
14. You will find that when forming the second curve, the other one you’ve made opens up a little bit. Use your chain nose pliers to close the gap.
Your finished S-shaped link will look like the one on the right below.
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Making the clasp:
1. Cut off 3” (7,6cm) of 17 gauge wire. Make loops on both ends of the wire. Make the one on the right a little bit smaller than the left one, by using the tip of your pliers.
The smaller loop makes it easier to go through the hook.
2. Use 20 gauge wire to coil the part between the two loops.
3. Turn the bigger loop to face downwards. Grip the coiled wire next to the loop with your round nose pliers.
4. Bend the rest of the coiled wire around the upper prong of your pliers.
5. Use a super peg of your wire jig with a diameter of 10mm. Place the piece of wire underneath the peg, and make sure the peg is central to the wire.
6. Curve the wire around the peg as shown below.
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Making the hook:
1. Cut off 2” (5,1cm) of 17 gauge wire. Make loops at both ends of the wire. The loops must be the same size.
2. Use 20 gauge wire to coil the part between the two loops.
3. Grip the coiled wire exactly in the middle with the bottom of your round nose pliers.
4. Fold both sides downwards to create a horse shoe-shape.
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5. Your finished hook and clasp will look like this:
Attaching a pair of links:
1. You will need 17g jump rings to attach the chain-links together. It is easy to make your own jump rings. Coil a few links around the prong of your pliers. You can find a detailed explanation on the page
http://www.how-to-make-beaded-jewelry.com/jump-rings.html
2. Use your wire cutters to cut each coil to form a jump ring.
3. Place two chain-links next to each other exactly as you’re going to slide it onto your jump ring.
4. Open a jump ring. It is important to open it correctly otherwise the round shape of the jump ring will be distorted. Click on the link to find a tutorial of how to open and close a jump ring properly http://www.how-to-make-beaded-jewelry.com/open-jump-rings.html
5. Slide the two links onto the jump ring, and close it properly.
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Attaching the coral beads:
1. Cut off a piece of 20g wire approx 3 ¼ “ (8cm). Grip the end of the wire with the middle part of your round nose pliers.
2. Start coiling the wire around the prong of your pliers by gripping the wire and moving it away from you.
3. Keep on coiling until you have 3 coils.
4. The shape of the coiled part will look like a P. Use your round nose pliers to position the coiled loop so it is central to the tail of the wire, like a lollypop.
5. Cut the wire 1 ¼” (3,2cm) from the coral bead. Start at the end and coil the wire around your round nose pliers. Again make the loop central to the wire.
6. Your coral bead is now ready to be attached to the S-shaped links.
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7. Open the loop at the end of the S-shaped links. Slide the coiled part of the coral bead onto the loop and close it completely.
8. Do the same at the other end of the attached links.
9. Continue to add two S-shaped links on the right, followed by a coral bead.
10. Do the same on the left hand side.
11. Keep on attaching links and beads. Measure your necklace as you go along.
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12. When you have enough links and beads, it’s time to attach the clasp and hook. Open the large loop of the clasp and slide the last coral bead of the chain onto it. Close it completely.
13. Attach the hook with a jump ring to the last bead on the other side of the chain.
14. Your necklace is now round. You are going to attach more links and beads to give it a Y-shape. Find the central part of the necklace. Open the jump ring and slide a bead onto it.
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15. Attach two s-shaped links to the bottom of the coral bead.
16. Slide one coral bead onto a 3” (7,6cm) headpin.
17. Cut the headpin 1 ¼” (3,2cm) from the end of the coral bead. Coil the headpin in the same way as the other coral beads. Attach it to the bottom loop of the s-shaped link.
Congratulations, your coral bead necklace is now ready to wear!!
See an example of the oxidized necklace below.
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