www.mineralgallery.co.za Clasps

• Clasps 

Simply put, a clasp is any device used to open/close a piece of jewelry. Clasps come in many different shapes, sizes and mechanics (the way they work).Hidden clasps have the mechanics tucked away so the viewer doesn't even know that they are looking at a functional part of the jewelry! They can often double up as a pendant.

When you want to display your strands of beads side by side, or if you have a wide piece of jewelry that you don't want tapered down to the clasp, use a tube clasp. It's a slider clasp in tube form. One side fits and slides into the track of the other side.

• Hook and eye clasps are obvious and simple in their design: the hook, being...ah well, a hook, and the eye is really an eyelet (not an eyeball silly).

  Fish hook clasps are also a type of hidden clasp. The hook, which is v-shaped and springy, slides and disappears into the body.

• Speaking of fish, the lobster clasp looks like a lobster claw. You'll never find these handmade, because the mechanics include a steel spring buried inside. If it's completely round, but works the same, it's called a split ring clasp.

  Toggle clasps look like two letters of our alphabet. An "O" is on one side of the device and the "T" on the other. The T-shape slips into the O shape and acts like a stop to prevent them from accidentally coming apart.